United Nations Shipgirl Command
by AT Pyro
Summary: The war with the Covenant is over, but a new alien race is threatening Humanity. Follow the exploits, trials, tribulations, and slipping sanity of Admiral Aqua Steele as she fights threats from within and without with humanity's newest weapons... shipgirls. Rated M for language, implications, and shipgirls.
1. Admiral's Log- Days 1-2

Ever since humanity achieved space travel have we wondered what lay beyond our star system. The Voyager probe, theories of other intelligence. Even as we mastered other planets in the Sol system like we had Earth, the question lingered. When we achieved slipspace travel in 2291, from studying an ancient artifact on Pluto, the universe opened up to us, with the establishment of Earth's first interstellar colonies. Reach, Alpha Centauri, Harvest. Mass effect relays allowed constant communication required for us to accomplish such a feat, unheard of since the British Empire in the 17th and 18th centuries. We believed that we could go ever onward, to see the ends of the galaxy, or at least the Orion Arm.

Then came the Covenant.

An alliance of aliens, with two races specifically at it's head. We first encountered them at Harvest, where a ship appeared to investigate lost communications to find a ball of glass where a planet had been. The atmosphere had been burned away, the water, boiled to plasma. Everyone planetside died.

All that remained was a message. "Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instrument."

Then they came more overtly. Once again at Harvest, the UNSC saw them face to face for the first time. The small Grunts. The sniper Jackals. The terrifying Hunters. The monstrous Brutes. And the leaders of the forces, the Elites. Each had their own classes, with Elite classes showing up meaning the Covenant weren't too far behind. Once a Zealot-class was spotted, the planet was doomed.

Humanity was pushed back, every victory only a barely organized retreat, every defeat devastating. We lost every colony, while adhering to the Cole protocol: jump randomly, then to Reach, or Earth. The Covenant must never discover them.

Then they came for Reach. The Assault on the Spire. The _Long Night of Solace_. The fleet arriving. The glassing of New Alexandria. The destruction of [REDACTED]. Now, Earth was the inevitable target. Humanity was at it's darkest hour. Not even the Spartans could stop them.

Then they did. Or one did. Master Chief, John 117. After the ship carrying him jumped away from Reach, they found a ring in space. Alpha Halo. The Covenant pursued them, and Chief was able to destroy the ringworld and the Covenant. But that only delayed the assault.

The Covenant arrived, unleashing it's fury on our world. But the expected glassing never came, as the aliens instead made planetfall in Africa. The reason was an alien artifact, left by what the Covenant called 'the Forerunners', lay beneath Voi, and that artifact could open a portal to the Ark, the control of all the Halos. Alpha Halo and Delta Halo, another ringworld Chief lured the aliens to to distract them from Earth, were only two of a complete set. The Ark could fire them all.

Then Chief defeated them. But he never came back. Only the front half of _Forward Unto Dawn_ , Sergeant Johnson's flagship returned. The rest of the fleet had withdrawn from the portal once the ground forces had deployed, with the Brute fleet destroyed by Half-Jaw's own. Only the Arbiter had made it out alive.

We honored Chief. We had to. The man had possibly been the only thing between humanity and complete annihilation. Now allied with the Arbiter and the Sangheili (And wasn't that fun, finding out the guy who helped save the universe was the one who pulled the trigger on your worst loss?), humanity began to reclaim their colonies, starting with Reach. Every one had a memorial constructed in front of the UNSC headquarters on planet.

But now we face another enemy, one more primordial than anything we've seen. ONI has termed them Abyssals, humanoid spaceships who look like a cross between anime and Cthulhu. It's now up to me, the only other admiral left in the UNSC, besides Hood, to find a way to stop this force. We've set up a new base in orbit of a new planet, one named Formante. A new research group, the Phoenix Organization, supposedly has what we need to combat this new threat.

But unlike with the Covenant, we hold the advantage. Study of the Forerunner artifacts found on Earth, in the Sol system, and known of by the Sangheili allowed us to create technology on level even far beyond the Covenant's holy city, _High Charity_. No longer are we on the backfoot, fighting an overwhelming force arrayed against us. We are the giants now, and we won't be forced into the corner again.

* * *

 _Journal of Admiral Steele, January 1, 2558_

Today I arrived at the base, henceforth to be known as FOB Ascendant. Why, I don't know. Some philosophical soul, I presume. It almost hurt to step onto the platform and watch the Pelican return to what was my flagship, the newly launched UNSC Infinity. None of my crew wanted me to leave either, but Fleet Admiral Hood wanted me here. Considering I was the only Admiral besides him to survive the Covenant War could be it. But what we're facing ain't the Covenant. Not even the Sangheili know what they are. The eggheads have designated them 'Abyssals', and I'm out here to fight them. Their mere existence is classified to hell and back.

Officially (I.e., what the UNSC has decided to say anything about), this is just me keeping an eye on possible Covenant-like disturbances. Actually, this is known as Operation Shining Star. I question the naming procedure guy's line of reasoning.

But, it's just me on this space station, above Formante, in the Alpha Scorpii system. Before now it was known as _Prometheus_.

I think I'm noticing a theme here.

Regardless, my office is set up, and the base is in order. In order enough for me to practice marksmanship and physical fitness. Yes I am aware that it's technically markswomanship. I bet Spartans don't have to deal with that crap.

So now I'm keeping a journal for this whole assignment. Considering I could be here for a few months or the rest of my natural life, it will be a chore to remember to do. I set a reminder for every night, before I go to bed. Phoenix Org. said they'd have the first five assignments to the base out tomorrow. So there's that to look forward to.

* * *

 _Journal of Admiral Steele, January 2, 2558_

Phoenix emailed me in the morning to tell me Subjects Akatsuki, Hibiki, Ikazuchi, Inazuma, Tenryuu, Ooyodo, Mamiya, Irako, and Akashi would be arriving by 1400 hours. I responded inquiring as to why FOB Ascendant looked like a base for a standard 1-2 million garrison, and not a weapons testing facility or something like that. I got silence in return. Pricks….

I also took the liberty of installing a translator program to my glasses, since those names were all Japanese, and fuck if I was gonna have a bunch of Japanese speakers around and not understand them until someone else came around. While everyone enlisted in the UNSC (i.e., you were selected, though they've both loosened restrictions and cut back on conscription since the desperate war days… Contradiction, thy name is military.) took mandatory language courses, those were mostly English. Since Phoenix is an outside party, I was taking the necessary precautions.

That left me at 0700 hours with nothing much else to do. So I went through my computer and began to do some other work. Among it, decorating.

I am an Admiral, I think I've earned the right to liven up my quarters a little. Blank white isn't my taste. I did keep the lights though. I'm no electrician.

I also took the liberty of encrypting and classifying this journal to hell and back. If anyone were to get past the encryption wall, all they'd see is a redacted to hell and back piece of writing. Probably the only people who can actually read the thing are me, Fleet Admiral Hood, and maybe anyone in the high side of the UEG. Depends on if the UNSC finally gave up martial law.

As a side note, no high officer gets where they are clean. The higher up you go, the blacker your personnel file gets until the only unredacted things on there are your name, rank, and maybe, something having to do with a high profile victory. Everything else? Black ink - er, black highlighter really. Good old technology.

My file? I think the only words legible are my name, rank, and how I earned my first admiralty. You worked your way up the ladder with Covie blood in those days.

After a light lunch (2 pounds of food, compared to 6), I mostly just did paperwork while waiting for 1400 hours to roll around. When it did, I went out to greet the Phoenix ship dropping off the Subjects, though I was really having my suspicions about what they were.

I will say, a group of teenage girls and young women were not on that list.

Akatsuki, as a little pop up on my glasses HUD told me, was apparently a destroyer. What? Are they really expecting me to believe these are humanized warships? I'm quite tempted to fire off an email inquiring as to why someone is wasting time and resources with a prank. Either that or I haven't woken up yet. But, well, I did pinch myself. Hurt. Blah.

Hibiki looked a little like Akatsuki, but either a load more tired or a load more bored. She also spoke Russian-accented Japanese. I may have to keep an eye on her. I can smell vodka from here.

Ikazuchi seems rather cheerful. She almost immediately asked to be sent out. I said that we were waiting for further orders.

Inazuma is rather nice. A little clumsy, but she has a heart on her sleeve, for sure.

Together those four are DesDiv 6, though I question where 1-5 are. Maybe they're coming later. Anyway, those four are watched by Tenryuu.

Tenryuu herself is a pretty hot-blooded girl. She has a sword, and an eyepatch. Looks high-tech. I'll bet anyone reading this twenty bucks there's a laser eye under that thing. I'll make sure that sentence is unredacted so anyone reading just sees a bet with no context. I like her though. She has spirit. Though she claims to be a light cruiser… Sure. And Noble Six talked up a storm.

Ooyodo, according to her, is a light cruiser specifically to be my secretary. She's going to handle the menial shit I don't have to do myself, or just have to sign off on. I can only imagine how bad the paperwork will get later, so I'm glad to have her around.

Mamiya and Irako are chefs, basically. They went into the kitchen and took it over. Mamiya acts like a mother and all, and she certainly looks the part. Irako is younger, but just as dedicated to cooking.

Lastly, Akashi is the medic of the group. She mentioned she was here to repair any damages… whatever that means.

So yes, I have nine girls that I believe to be in varying stages of delusion. They're all named after Japanese warships, and all speak Japanese too, so that translator was a good idea. How it works is it translates words said to English, then pipes it into my ear via earpiece. I think they have translators on them already, though I haven't seen any earpieces.

Since they're here now, I decided that I'd test their accuracy on the range first. There was a zero-G range next to the standard lane range, so I figured that would shake them up a little.

The destroyers and Tenryuu floated in the range, a glass sphere lined with rails for targets to move across, and target launchers as well. It was meant to simulate the vacuum environment we'd be fighting the Abyssals in. Well, they would - my responsibility was to ascertain where and when to send them. I was fairly worried for them when they refused vacuum suits, but they seemed to be breathing just fine once they floated out of the airlock.

Turning to the controls, I set a pattern for twelve Covenant Phantoms and thirty Seraphs, the same attack pattern as when the Covenant Supercarrier appeared over Reach.

I saw Tenryuu bark something, an order maybe, but the thick glass separating us mutes it entirely. Then a whole bunch of World War 2 era naval ship weaponry manifested around them. The four destroyers split up slightly, each focusing on a different target. Phantom targets fell quickly, while Tenryuu moves to either fire upon Seraphs or slice them to bits with her sword.

I made a mental note to get her to play Metal Gear Rising.

After they filed out, cheerful about wiping out some targets imitating Covenant tactics, I let them go on to the mess hall for dinner. I sat back in the zero-g control room, utterly shocked.

These girls were actually the ships from World War Two. They were over a thousand years old, former bodies long gone, and about to fight an alien force other aliens knew nothing about. I had seen the Halo carnage reports from the Master Chief's AI, Cortana. She'd scanned the thing and some other Forerunner artifacts so thoroughly if these Abyssals were known, she'd have seen them. They weren't the Flood, that's for certain. They hadn't even left the sector we'd first spotted them in, which the uncreative idiots back at HQ had named Sector A. I mean, come on. Name it something meaningful, you know?

Back to the shipgirls. Shipgirls. I'll float that name by them and pray I don't get shot to death. But staring at the business end of a Covenant glassing laser kind of makes you dull to any other fear responses.

I absently wondered what my sister would think of all this.

* * *

 _"Beautiful, isn't it? Someone should take a picture." Spartan II Jorge-052 muttered as he watched the Covenant Corvette crumple around an Orbital MAC strike. He then placed an armored hand on the shoulder of Spartan III [REDACTED]-B312. "Nice work, by the way."_

 _"I aim to please." The newly minted Noble Six responded, still watching the glorious carnage. A light buzzing indicated their comms were being pinged._

 _"Five, Six… Get down to the science wing. Doctor Halsey wants a debrief, and Command's saying we're all hers." Spartan III Carter-A259 ordered._

 _"Repeat? Sounded like you said Halsey." Jorge sounded surprised as he responded to the odd summons._

 _"I did."_

 _Jorge turned away from the hole in Sword Base as he replied. "Copy that, on our way." Six turned to follow him as he muttered, now off the radio; "Don't need Command to tell me…. Been hers half me life." Six, like usual, stayed silent. Despite her SPARTAN III upbringings, Six still remembered reading about the original SPARTAN programs, the first ORION, then the SPARTAN IIs._

 _It was a quiet walk down to the science wing. Neither Spartan were feeling particularly chatty at the moment. Catherine Halsey… there was someone you didn't meet everyday, even if you were a product of her SCIENCE! Lovechild._

 _Noble Team was gathered in a room when Five and Six arrived, speaking with Dr. Halsey through a security wall and shield door. It seemed Halsey was chewing out Carter for some perceived slight._

 _"I requested your assistance, Commander, and do not need a report on events that occur on my own doorstep. What I do require is a detailed account of your previous engagement-" She stopped talking as Jorge and Six entered. "Jorge. It's been too long."_

 _Jorge just said "Ma'am."_

 _"Now what have you done with my armor?" Halsey almost sounded like a parent asking their child what they'd made in crafts class that day._

* * *

 _"Well, never thought I'd see you here."_

 _Noble team glanced around at the empty hallway, before focusing ahead._

 _"I really hope you didn't think those Marines that fought alongside you and probably bit it came from nowhere. Alongside the Longsword fighters and orbital strike." A female officer, wearing a Vice Admiral's uniform came around a corner, hands behind her back and a look of supreme irritation on her face. "After all, when I'm ordered to bring down a Covenant corvette near a well known ONI base because of a team of Spartans, I don't expect one of them to be my sister." Six flinched, enough that Carter noticed it out of the corner of his eye._

 _"Six?" He left the question unasked._

 _"Or should he say, Terra Steele, Spartan Beta 312?" A now thoroughly incensed Vice Admiral Aqua Steele glowered, the look on her face promising dire retribution on any direct questions._

 _"I… I think-"_

 _"She thinks you'd do well to leave and let us have ourselves a little family reunion." Aqua said in a very, very false cheer. "Otherwise we find out how durable a Spartan's armor systems are to repeated percussive force."_

 _Most Spartan IIIs weren't the most cowardly types. But a high-up UNSC officer looking like nothing short of the Covenant glassing Reach at that moment would stop any violent recourse was enough to even send Emile walking by at a pace a step too fast. That left Six alone to deal with the thunderous Vice Admiral, who bore down on her with fury written all over her face, in big fuckin' letters._

 _"Now, sis, I can explain-" Six began, holding up her hands, before Aqua cut her off._

 _"Explain what? That you're here instead of putting down Insurrection cells in the Middle Colonies? That I was pulled to do what a mythical Spartan couldn't? Or that you never called or wrote?_ Pick one _." Aqua snarled._

 _Six sighed. She really hated when her older sister got like this. "Sorry, sis, but ONI was really strict about communications. Even when I was out, they kept an eye on me. We weren't permitted to talk about this to anyone. Hell, only Vice Admirals and above are the only ones to even know we're Spartan IIIs, not IIs." The spartan fiddled with an equipment pouch as she explained herself. "That a recent achievement?"_

 _"Yes." Her sister replied shortly. Then she sighed. "Take off the damn helmet. I feel like I'm trying to reconnect to a robot." Six reached up and pulled the helmet off, short blonde tresses emerging from the protective headgear as she pulled the helmet off for the first time in years, became Terra instead of B312._

 _"You know how much of a pain in the ass getting that back in is, right?" Green eyes met gold as Terra griped about her hair. A small smirk appeared on Aqua's face._

 _"Hence why I keep mine short. Granted, it's been a while since ODST Commander, but old habits die hard." She shrugged. Then she wrapped her arms around the armored girl. "I missed you, Ter."_

 _"And I missed you too, Sis." Terra gently returned the hug, trying not to crush her big sister with her enhanced strength. The two separated, now grinning. Aqua sighed as her communicator began to chime._

 _"That'll be Ignia on the_ Dawn _. I have to go." She then punched the Spartan on the shoulder. "Write next time, okay?"_

 _"I will." Terra answered before gathering up her hair and replacing her helmet. Six was back, where a girl had been. "Stay safe."_

 _"It's the Covenant." Aqua snorted. "None of us are safe."_

* * *

She'd be having a riot. For all ONI touted their creating sociopaths, they either overlooked or failed with my sister. Didn't stop her from doing her job damn well, but Steeles get it done.

I stood and made for the mess hall. It was a rather short walk, during which I glanced around at the station's greenery. It was obviously imported - there were no Terra apple trees on Formante - but the greenery spiced up the station enough to almost make me forget about it all. The last time I had spoken to my parents they had asked when they could expect grandkids. I said later. They asked why. I replied with 'I got a new assignment far away from any human reproductive organs, that's why.'

I was lost in thought as I entered the mess hall, only to notice Tenryuu and her charges standing, and saluting. Well, not the UNSC salute. If anything, it would be an IJN salute. A quick 'at ease' got them to sit back down and continue eating, as I got my food from Irako and came to jon them. Inazuma scooted over a bit as I sat next to her.

"So how's your first day here?" I asked after a quick taste of my beef sandwich - not eating half the thing like a starved animal after the first bite.

"Mmm, I like the target practice, but something else would be nice, I think." Akatsuki said. The rest nodded. Unanimous. I was breaking out the holoconsole tonight it seemed.

"I gotta say, I wasn't sure about ya. First thing I hear when I return is something about space and all that, then it turns out we are in space, then we're getting a 'United Nations Space Command' Admiral. It was a real big wakeup call." Tenryuu pointed at me with her knife. "But I like you. Didn't interfere in the practice. Never floated at my targets before, but I suppose that's what this is for." She pointed out her belt, which had a pair of thrusters like HALO packs on the sides. The rest of the girls had them too. "So far, so good."

"Good." I nodded, finishing the last bite of sandwich. Mamiya and Irako's cooking was far and away better than any Navy canteen slop I'd reluctantly digested when working my way up the ranks. The mess hall might be a decent eating place now. Then I dropped the big one.

"Are you actually ships?"

All of them were quiet, looking at each other as if asking the other to answer.

"Yes."

The blunt answer in Russian-accented Japanese had me glancing towards Hibiki. The destroyer for her part looked utterly unbothered by that. For me, I stood, walked to the store room, and grabbed the largest bottle of Jack Daniels I saw.

"I'm going to need this for this explanation." I dryly declared before twisting the cap off and upending the bottle. Three seconds of chugging later and I dropped it, the now two-thirds full bottle 'thunk'ing onto the table. "Do tell?"

"So, when our ship selves sank, we all just kind of went to sleep, nanodesu." Inazuma started. "Then we heard this call, and when we woke up, it was like this in a room."

"Magnificent." I droned, taking a swig. Tennessee may be flyover, but dammit if whiskey wasn't something they could do right.

"Then these guys came to talk to us in these odd uniforms. Said we were being transferred to here, from there. Then we got on this real big ship and into these tubes and it got cold and suddenly here we are." Ikazuchi picked up. "So why is it always night?"

I stood up, dropped my right hand on her shoulder, and gently guided her to a window.

"Look down." I said. She did.

"Wha! What's that?!" She cried.

"That is planet Formante, one in the…. What was it, Alpha Scorpii system? You're on a space station. That ship? A starship Phoenix Organization has. Tubes? Cryosleep tubes for slipspace travel. At least the Sangheili helped us get the travel time and accuracy better." I then drank again. "Welcome to the 26th century, and the United Nations Space Command. Wait. Didn't Tenryuu mention this earlier?"

"I did."

"We just finished fighting a genocidal alien cult collective ten years ago, and now we're out here fighting goddamn Great Old Ones or some shit." I polished off the bottle of whiskey and went to get a new one. "Life sucks."

When I did get my new one, I left the mess hall to check on my office, then turn in. I passed Ooyodo sitting at the desk outside the office -secretary, right- and saw nothing out of the ordinary. I bid her goodnight as I came out, then made my way past the barracks I now knew were shipgirl dorms to my quarters. I dropped the (now empty) bottle onto my desk, shucked off my clothes, and just flopped onto my bed, the pressure sensors dimming the lights for sleep.

* * *

 **The Rant**

 **Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell~o there!**

 **So, this here's what I've been spending…. Some of my time on. I really wrote this in about a week. If that'll keep up, I dunno.**

 **So why crossover KanColle and Halo? Well, I saw one that was done really well (For Earth and All Her Colonies, heavy recommend), with a Halo shipgirl in the KanColle verse, so I thought I could do the same in reverse! Sort of.**

 **So I spent a weekend going over UNSC ship classes.**

 **I made a list.**

 **It will be provided next. Enjoy… or not.**

 **AWAY!**

 **Revision: Don't you just love updating the chapter and having to reformat it by hand? Fucking FanFiction, amiright**


	2. Ship List

**You see how crazy I am now?**

Key:

No after punctuation: Halo ship class

-: KanColle ship class

\: modified Halo ship class

|: Azur Lane ship class

/: Original/Real ship class

[#]: Chapter Introduced

{#}: Chapter Planned to Introduce

(#) Number of (planned) ships

A: Admiral Hipper class heavy cruiser(1)-

Aether class science vessel(1) [2]

Ajax class heavy frigate(1)

Akagi class carrier(1)- [2]

Akashi class repair ship(1)-[1]

Akatsuki class destroyer(4)- [1]

Akizuki class destroyer(4)- [3]

Ark Royal class carrier(1)-

Ark Royal class supercarrier(1)

Armstrong class heavy corvette(2)

Artemis class battlecruiser/standard cruiser(4)\

Amber class heavy frigate(1)/

Aquila class carrier(1)-

Asclepius class repair ship(1)\

Ashford class frigate(5) [6]

Athena class frigate escort(10)

Autumn class cruiser(1)

Avery class heavy cruiser(2)

B: Bastion class carrier(2)

Battlestar class battlecruiser(1)/

Bismarck class battleship(1)- [4]

Black Wolf class light cruiser(2)\

C: C. F. Adams class destroyer(4)/

Cavalier class destroyer(4)

Centurion class hunter-killer(2)\

Cerberus class stealth frigate(2)/

*Constitution class heavy frigate(1)/

*For history/ship nerds

Constitution class fast assault cruiser(2)/

D: Damocles class heavy carrier(2)

Dawn class heavy cruiser(1)/

Deliverance class assault frigate(6)

Destiny class dreadnought battleship(1)/

Devastator class super heavy carrier(2)

Dreadnought class… dreadnought battleship(2...ish*)/ [4]

*One is the actual HMS Dreadnought, the other's a theoretical UNSC Dreadnought. Might change spellings for differentiation.*

E: Eclipse class prowler(4)

Elysium class heavy cruiser(2)

Endeavor class assault cruiser(2)

Enterprise class shock battlecruiser(2)/

Essex class carrier(1)-

Executive class frigate(4)/

F: Falling Star class carrier escort(12)

Farragut class destroyer(4)/

Fletcher class destroyer(4)-/

Forrestal class supercarrier(4)/

Fubuki class destroyer(4)- [2]

Fusou class battleship(2)- [6]

G: Gladiator class light cruiser(1)

Gorgon class battleship(1)

Graf Zeppelin class carrier(1)-

Griffin class frigate(2)

Guardian class repair ship(1)\ [3]

Gunnerside class frigate(4)/

H: Hades class heavy battlecarrier(1)

Halcyon class light cruiser(6)

Harvest class battleship(1)

Hayasui class supply ship(1)-

Helios class heavy frigate(2)

Herald class prowler(4)

Hood class battleship(1)/ [4]

Houshou class light carrier(1)-

Hyperion class heavy destroyer(4)

I: Irako class supply ship(1)-[1]

Independence class frigate(7)/

Indestructible class battleship(3)/ [3]

Indomitable class battleship(3)/

Imperative class armory ship(1) [3]

Impulse class stealth frigate(2)

Infinity class ship(2)\ *There's no real describing Infinity until she comes around. Those who played Halo 4-5 know what I mean.

K: Kagemusha class prowler(2)

Kamoi class supply ship(1) [3]

Katori class light cruiser(2)-

Keyes class battlecruiser(2)

Kongo(u) class battleship(4)- [4]

Kusanagi class stealth frigate(4)

L: Lexington class carrier(1)-

Luna class research ship(1)\ [2]

M: Mako class light corvette(2)

Mammoth class destroyer(6)

Mamiya class supply ship(1)-[1]

Marathon class heavy cruiser(4)

Mercury class destroyer(4)

Minerva class prowler(2)

Miranda class heavy cruiser(2)

Mogami class heavy cruiser(2)-

Mutsuki class destroyer(4)-

N: Nagato class battleship(2)-

Nelson class battleship(1)-

Nimitz class supercarrier(1)

O: Obsidian class heavy prowler(2)

Odin class battleship(1)/

Ooyodo class light cruiser(1)- [1]

Orion class assault carrier(2)

P: Paladin class heavy destroyer(4) [3]

Pegasus class cruiser-carrier(2)

Pendragon class supercarrier(1)

Phoenix class research ship(1)\

Platinum class destroyer(2)

Presidential class supercarrier(45)\

*Note about above ship class: Those are actual things, though I'm kind of sure/not sure they're all supercarriers. (They aren't. Though there are nine.) Also, only having 45 appear because if I have more there will be flame wars.*

Prince of Wales class battleship(1)/ [4]

Province class assault cruiser(2)

Q: Queen Elizabeth class battleship(2)-

Quetzalcoatl class light frigate(1)

R: Ragnarok class dreadnought carrier(1)

Reach class dreadnought battleship(1)\

Reaper class super battleship(2)

Reckoning class attack prowler(2)

Remembrance class frigate(4)

Retribution class battlecruiser(2)

Revenge class light cruiser(2)

S: Sendai class light cruiser(2)-

Sentinel class defense ship(8)

Sentry class heavy corvette(2)

Serenity class frigate(4)

Shadow class stealth cruiser(2)

Shimakaze class destroyer(4)-

Shiratsuyu class destroyer(4)-

Shoukaku class carrier(4)-

Sol class dreadnought cruiser(2)

Spruance class destroyer(4)/

State class dreadnought battleship(50)/

-Texas class(3)/ [4]

-Iowa class(4)/

-New York class(4)/

-Washington class(4)/

-Dakota class(2)/

-Carolina class(2)/

-Arizona class(4)/

-Missouri class(4)/

-Alaska class(4)/

-Hawaii class(4)/

-Louisiana class(4)/

-Virginia class(4)/

-Kentucky class(4)/

-Missouri class(3)/

Strident class heavy frigate(10)

Striker class shock destroyer(4)/

Supply class resupply ship(4)/

T: Taihou class heavy carrier(1)-

Takao class heavy cruiser(2)-

Tempest class light cruiser(2)

Templar class light cruiser(2)

Tenryuu class light cruiser(2)-[1] [2]

Thanatos class prowler(4)

Thermopylae class supercarrier(1)

Thor class corvette(4)

Titan class dreadnought carrier(1)

Type J3 class stealth ship(1)-

Type AM class stealth ship(1)-

Type B1 class stealth ship(1)-

Type B3 class stealth ship(1)-

Type XIV class resupply ship(2)/

Kaidai V class stealth ship(1)-

U: Ulysses class heavy cruiser(2)

Unryuu class carrier(2)-

V: *Victory class ship-of-the-line(1)/

*For history/ship nerds

Y: Yamato class dreadnought battleship(2)- [4]

Yorktown class supercarrier(3)-

Yuubari class light cruiser(2)-

Z: Zara class heavy cruiser(2)

Total ships:~445. Fuck me.

Fun fact: at one point I had 343 ships.

Abyssals:

I-class

Ro-class

Ha-class

Ni-class

Na-class

Tsu-class

Chi-class

Ri-class

Ne-class

Ru-class

Ta-class

Re-class

Wo-class

Armored Carrier Princess

Anchored Planet Princess

Southern Sector Princess

Starfield Princess

Battleship Princess

Spaceport Princess

Isolated Asteroid Princess

Starcraft Carrier Princess

Northern Sector Princess

Midway Planet Princess

Supply Depot Princess

Heavy Cruiser Princess

Central Sector Princess

Twin Planet Princesses

Neo Battleship Princess

Europa Princess

Night Star Princesses


	3. Admiral's Log- Day 3

**Thanks to DragonLatios, iZuikaku, and Abdi Shabill051096 for the follow/favs. You stoke my ego so.**

* * *

 _Journal of Admiral Steele, January 3, 2558_

Waking up with not-quite-a-hangover, but a decent headache was fun. Thankfully a quick application of water and coffee fixed that right off.

I went to the office first, to see if there was anything I needed to sign off/ignore/send back with several swears written on it, in four different languages.

Long story.

I was quite surprised to see Ooyodo sitting at her desk ahead of me, considering it was 0730 hours. I would think most people would sleep in a little later - it had taken me four months of UNSC training to get me up earlier than 0900 hours - but there she was, a steaming mug of coffee on her desk as she typed away.

"Morning." I greeted her, raising my own mug.

"Good morning, Admiral." She inclined her head in greeting. "Work morning?"

"Unless my office spontaneously combusted." I replied. Thankfully, it hadn't. Also thankfully, all the things were in a neat little stack. It only took half an hour to finish. I thanked Ooyodo for that, to which the shipgirl replied she was only doing her job.

If only actual UNSC secretaries could be clones of her. Then we might actually get work done.

I entered the mess hall to find a similar scene from last night, Tenryuu and DesDiv 6 eating, the two… I guess they're cooking ships now, in the kitchen. I got food and went to join them again.

"Morning Admiral!" Like yesterday, Ikazuchi was the cheerful one.

"Morning." I greeted before digging in, sighing as I really woke up.

"So what's up today?" Tenryuu asked me, leaning over the table slightly.

I pulled out my tablet, consulting the schedule I'd put on it in the office.

"Let's see… I think we're going to do some agility training today, then Phoenix is bringing by more shipgirls at 1400 hours again. I'll stick em in the range like you and see how they do, then pretty much last night without the drinking hopefully." I rattled off.

"I see." The light cruiser - seriously, human ship - leaned back. "Shipgirls, huh? I suppose that's a good enough term."

Oh shit. I forgot to ask.

"Uhhh-" I was aware of my face attempting to become a star.

"Nah, nah, it's fine." Tenryuu gave me a smirk. "If anything it's exactly what I'd expect someone would come up with after a day around us." I sighed in relief. I would rather avoid a 104'' tri-autocannon blast to the face.

Oh, I forgot to mention.

How shipgirls fight is they summon these sort of… pieces of their original bodies? I guess. Anyway, Phoenix did me the favor of updating their summon weapons to UNSC class standards. It still looked like WWII era naval weaponry, but it fired UNSC depleted plutonium/fibrosteel rounds at 10,000 RPM, or Archer missile pods instead of… torpedo tubes I guess? Unfortunately, they hadn't worked out a way to give them MACs yet.

Now, if I had a portable Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, there would be less problems in the galaxy.

On the subject of classes, there's about ten thousand of them in the UNSC fleet, and I'd rather not have all of them. I had a feeling this new fleet would run me ragged with only ten.

I contemplated applying for Fleet Admiral rank once I had a fleet. Bigger than five combat-capable shipgirls anyway.

Onto more boring things I guess.

The training course, different from the ranges, was more about movement. There were still targets set up, but the focus of the average UNSC soldier/Marine was making it through the course as fast as possible, as accurate as possible, with the least amount of paint on them possible. All while hefting about 85 pounds of equipment and trying not to drop their assault rifle.

What, you think we did live fire training? Jesus, no. We'd kill most of the recruits and the others wouldn't be very effective.

I explained as much to the five shipgirls, before sending Akatsuki in first to both test her improvisation and demonstrate. I was pleasantly surprised to see her come out with only one half of her coated in paint. Normal recruit would be soaked.

"You did that on purpose." She accuses me.

"Maybe. You did better than any other recruit if it makes you feel any better. Eyes closed." I aimed the cleaning hose at her. Look, I didn't come up with these weird-ass training things okay?

A spray of water later and the now clean Akatsuki was watching Hibiki run the course. She did better, having a vague idea of what to do, only having an arm steeped in paint. She sat with it in a water bucket as Ikazuchi and Inazuma ran it. Both had what amounted to a slap on the wrist in paint.

Then Tenryuu ran it. I will say, never saw anyone _slice_ the paintballs in half to avoid getting hit. She came out clean.

Mind. Gutter. Out.

With that I mentioned that they could have told each other about the course to make it easier on them. The destroyers all gave some exasperated response, to which I replied that they should have thought of it themselves. I was taking it easier on them because I knew they weren't soldiers fighting extinction, but I wasn't gonna make it easy.

Then it was time to meet the new shipgirls.

According to the email, I was expecting Fubuki, Shirayuki, Hatsuyuki, Miyuki, Aether, Akagi, Luna, and Tatsuta. Tenryuu was particularly excited about the last one, since it was her sister ship.

Also as a side note, I'm asking if Phoenix has a Japanophile in their R&D, because all but two of the shipgirls I'll have are Japanese. Or they're just doing it because of easy reference pools. Though in that case I question why a United States ship hasn't shown up. They had the most powerful navy on Earth before the formation of the UNSC and UEG.

"Fubuki/Shirayuki/Hatsuyuki/Miyuki, reporting for duty!" The four destroyers stated in union, identical salutes in place. I dismissed them and they immediately booked it to DesDiv 6, which were greeting them like puppies, minus the ass-sniffing.

"Hey, sis!" Tatsuta called to Tenryuu. "If I'd known you were into girls-"

"Shut it Tatsuta." Tenryuu smiled as she clamped her hand over her sister's mouth. Looks like that'll be a common occurrence.

"Akagi-san, carrier service ready!" Akagi obviously. What the hell is she wearing? Is that a longbow? And why the hell is her bust size so large?

Finally, a non-Japanese shipgirl in a grey overcoat stepped forward. Nothing against them, but variety, ya know?

"UNSC Luna reporting," the first shipgirl said in a husky voice that would have driven most men (and quite a lot of women) wild. About the only things that hinted at her being a scientist were the glasses and grey lab coat. The rest of her, from the high heels to the long, thigh-clad legs, to the short skirt, to the purple curls, to the dress that exposed an endless valley of cleavage, all seemed more intended for a night at the club then a lab.

Tenryuu gave a low whistle, "She can explain the purpose of molecules to me any day."

While I didn't quite agree, (judging by the sound of a slap, neither did Tatsuta), I could see where she was coming from. I had a feeling Luna could walk into a classroom and have every hormonal teenager in it hang on to her every word. Whether they would remember anything of it afterwards, besides the amount of skin and... ahem, personality, was a different question of course.

"UNSC Aether reporting. Um, please take care of me," the shipgirl in question mumbled. Like her half-sister she too was wearing glasses and a grey lab coat, but that was were the similarities ended. Where Luna was sexual, Aether was comforting. With her long, blue hair pulled back in a thick braid and dressed in a thick sweater and a long skirt, she seemed more comfortable curled a corner reading a book or tapping away at her PC then out in a club. I was certain that if I had been a young teenager I would have immediately decided to protect her with my life. Of course, the fact I was a soldier meant I would have done it anyways. Thou doth not hurt innocents, or else thou gets dead.

Apparently Akashi thought the same thing since she dove toward the research ship in a tackle-hug and began cuddling the mildly protesting shipgirl. "Look, Ooyodo, she is so cute! Can we adopt her? I promise I will take care of her and give her everything she wants!"

Ooyodo just sighed and dragged Akashi away, who kept flailing and going on about "our daughter" all the way to the exit. That earned a tertiary glance from myself, and a hand on top of Tenryuu's head to keep her from attempting the same.

As promised, the new destroyers had their range time. They were rather effective, clearly used to improvisation and teamwork on their own, unlike DesDiv 6. I could roll with that.

Unfortunately, eight destroyers, two light cruisers and a carrier do not an effective fleet make. I remember the Covenant war, and we didn't win without a three to one advantage and suffered heavy losses anyways. They weren't leaving until I got a few more units, dammit. Besides, the Abyssals didn't seem to be moving around outside Sector A, which was both great and worrying.

Great, because I had an excuse to sit on my ass, which as any military commander can tell you, is to be worshiped with all your being.

Worrying, because that could mean they're preparing for something. All the way from expanding Sector A to raiding the FOB to cooking dinner.

On that subject, time to get some.

I brought my food back to the office this time - a sandwich meant maybe I could get something else done, failing that, eat while I procrastinate. I saw Ooyodo with her own sub sitting at her desk, and I've theorized she either slept there or didn't sleep at all. Considering the others have slept, why would we have the dorms otherwise, I'm probably just being the weird former ODST again.

As a side note, insanity does not preclude one from enjoying a quick season of Red vs Blue. The fact it was a satire of the training any soldier went through helped.

"Admiral?" A knocking on my door alerted me to someone wanting to speak to me. I called them in, then mentioned the door was unlocked.

"Yeah, but, privacy and all, y'know?" Tenryuu said as she raised the eyebrow above her visible eye.

"So, what brings you here?" I asked, glancing up from my email. Crap, crap, spam, daily report to FADM Hood, telling my parents not to use me and my sister's reputations to brag, spam, pornsite? Most likely a virus. Junk.

Don't you love technology sometimes?

"The rugrats were wondering why you didn't eat with us at dinner. I said I'd ask." The light cruiser shrugged as she dropped into a chair in front of my desk. She glanced around the office, taking note of my redecoration. "Nice digs."

"I don't sleep in here." I said. "But thank you."

"What are those?" I followed the outstretched finger to one of my favorite pieces of wall decor, two Gravity Hammers I'd crossed under my old ODST unit's emblem. Screamin' Leapers, 403rd ODST division.

"Spoils of war. Those Brutes don't let 'em go easy." I mentioned, then returned to my email.

"Brutes?" I flipped my monitor around to show her the official file. "Cool." She flashed me a thumbs up, and a toothy grin. "I can say now I really like ya, Admiral."

I snorted. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." I deadpanned. Then I remembered something from yesterday. "Hey, Tenryuu, c'mere."

"What?" She circled around my desk, completely confused as I began to navigate my computer's filepaths while rummaging in my desk drawer. C'mon, I know it's in there….

Bingo, controller. I set it on the desk and deftly plugged it in, then found Metal Gear Rising. I went and opened the game and handed her the controller.

"Here. Play this."

"Why?" She was giving the controller a sideways look. I gave her my best sunny smile.

"I think you'll really enjoy it." She shrugged, and began to play. She sat down in the chair I pulled around for her as we began to watch the first cutscene.

* * *

 **"RULES OF NATURE!"**

" _Holy shit I just threw that giant mecha and now I'm slicing it to pieces this game is awesome!_ " Tenryuu was squealing -squealing!- as she tore Metal Gear RAY a new one. I simply sat back in my chair and smirked. Suspicion paid off. I probably earned a friend for life with this.

"Hey." I looked up. The light cruiser had paused the game, in the middle of Raiden doing some particularly Flippy Shit(™), and was staring at the screen thoughtfully. "Think I could bring this out to the mess hall or something?" I winced. Already with that question.

"Unfortunately, no. I don't happen to have a projector on hand." She wilted slightly, until I patted her on the shoulder. "Which is why DesDiv 6 are on their way now."

"How'd you know?!" She asked, eye wide in shock. I smirked.

"Admirals are psychic, you know?" She punched me on the shoulder -thankfully, lightly- and went back to the game. So much so she didn't look up to find her destroyers cheering her on, with Inazuma parked in my lap until she took a small break to rest her hands and saw them.

So we had a small game night in my office. It gave me some ideas. But that would wait for some other time. I had a mountain of credits sitting in my bank account like a dragon's hoard -the benefits of military service for… coming on 7 years now?- but what I was planning would have to wait.

It'd work better with more than eleven ships anyways.

* * *

 _ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) Personnel File: Admiral Aqua Steele_

 _Name: Steele, Aqua_

 _Height: 183 cm (1.83 m), 6'0''_

 _Weight: 172 lbs._

 _Homeworld: Reach_

 _Birthdate: November 4th, 2542_

 _Rank: Admiral_

 _Relations: [REDACTED], sister, [REDACTED] mother, [REDACTED], father_

 _Career: Marine; 205th Armored, ODST; 403rd 'Screamin' Leapers' division, Vice Admiral; UNSC heavy battlecruiser Radiant Dawn, Admiral; supercarrier Sworn Vengeance, Admiral; dreadnought battleship Infinity, Admiral; [REDACTED]_

 _Commendations: UNSC Colonial Cross, Medal of Honor, Gold Star, Legion of Honor_

 _Notes: Subject is observed to have excellent leadership capabilities. Subject also has massive chip on shoulder, likely due to [REDACTED]. Subject demonstrates lack of self-preservation, often completing tasks deemed too insane for an ODST due to this lack. Has been selfless in terms of allowing others a chance to reach safety first. Prefers heavy weapons. Also known to engage Brutes and Elites in hand-to-hand or melee combat and survive._

* * *

 **So I return! With a chapter written about…. A day or two after the last one, but not posted until the week before Christmas, because I love you all so.**

 **Also because chapter buffer. I'm motivated now, and hopefully this will keep me so. And because** **posting new stuff gets me new followers, and that does these wonderful things to my ego.**

 **Off topic somewhat, but I never really thought I'd get into a game like KanColle. I blame the internet.**

 **The introductions for Aether and Luna were written later by KCNederland and stolen/grammatically edited by myself. Thank him/her for that, because I am shit at descriptions, and fully willing to admit that.**


	4. Admiral's Log- Day 4: Recon Sortie

**Thanks to FreeWar and freechimchangas for the favorites! Free day today it seems.**

 **The Review Inbox:**

 **iZuikaku: I've been thinking about getting Azur Lane for a while now, but I don't have it. Thanks for the recommendation, anyways.**

 **KCNederland: Thanks! I suppose my crazy idea has some merit buried under my terrible ass writing.**

 **I suppose the pacing is rushed, but it seems slow to me, personally. That might have something to do with my brain running two times faster than normal, but it's probably just me.**

 **Character development is actually going to be my main priority for chapters 5 and 6. It's the weekend, after all, and even a military base need decomp time.**

 **Yuri... Uh, we'll see.**

 **It's more than a single line, I think, but I do agree I haven't described Admiral Steele too well. I'll try and outline her appearance in chapter 5, I guess. I already have chapters 3 and 4 written, and I'm not changing them beyond minor edits.**

 **Thanks for the feedback anyway!**

 **Send your reviews, I'll answer them above. That's what the box is for, y'know.**

* * *

 _Journal of Admiral Steele; January 4, 2558_

Back to the grind again…. thank the gods for caffeine.

After letting the kids stay up a little late watching their leader play a game, I'd finally kicked them out around 1800 hours. Gently, of course.

I found them regaling the other destroyers with tales of Tenryuu fangirling over the game. She denied them all, but that blush was visible from Reach.

"Admiral! Is it true Tenryuu is a fangirl?!" Fubuki asked eagerly as I sat down. I gave a nod with all the gravity of a star.

"Yes. And for that, she must face the most dire of punishments: _public knowledge_." I intoned. The destroyers broke down into laughter, and Tatsuta was struggling to hold in her giggles.

"Morning!" A mountain of food was placed next to me, Akagi following it to the table.

"Jesus Akagi, you off a ranch while I wasn't looking?" I asked. She gave me a sideways look. "Think you have enough food?" I clarified as I pointed at the food mountain in front of her.

"Of course!" She chirped, and then… well shit. Sounds like a shredder going to work.

I'm breaking out my old friend Jack today looks like.

Ignoring that little existential crisis, I got to see why Akagi has a bow on the lane range. Her 'arrows' are actually fighters. Way back when they would probably have been standard Japanese planes, like the Zero or some such, but now they were UNSC Longsword and Rapier fighters. When she shot an arrow, the ships would form from it, attack the target in a predetermined formation, then head back, landing on for what all the world looked like the deck of an aircraft carrier, before returning to her. That mountain of food was to keep them all resupplied, or she could gnaw on bauxite.

Christ.

I left her about the range, trusting her not to break anything as I wandered to my office, dully noticing the proximity sensors registering a Phoenix ship entering the defensive perimeter.

Oh, _shit_.

I mentally thanked the ODST training from hell for saving me from that run. A half-mile? If I had been a bog-standard pre-War Admiral, that run would have been torture. But ODSTs did runs like that in our sleep.

Again, there's a reason we're all considered top-rate insane.

I made it to the receiving bay just as the ship opened the airlock, allowing me to greet the new arrivals, as usual.

"Akizuki and DesDiv 12 reporting for duty!" Akizuki and her squadmates saluted. I let them run off to find the other destroyers.

"UNSC Paladin, reporting." Paladin saluted me, textbook. From the three others behind her, identical in everything but hairstyle, I assume they're Judicator, Justice, and Mercy. These UNSC destroyers were dressed differently, for sure. For one, they wore dark grey officer coats instead of white sailor uniforms, and they didn't have hats. Cool.

I returned their salute and sent them off. It should be interesting, watching UNSC shipgirls interact with the WWII shipgirls. Wait, they did get a refresher on _why_ they're here, right?

"UNSC Guardian, here to perform repairs, ma'am." Hmm, another repair ship. I sent her to what I was now going to term the R&D area. So far the repair and science ships are getting on like a house on fire, some more won't hurt.

And if they get me a railgun it definitely won't hurt.

"Kamoi, reporting for duty." Yup, supply ship. Motherly and all. I sent her to work with her fellow suppliers, excellent timing considering Akagi's eating habits. I was getting tempted to help them myself, and ODSTs aren't the best chefs in the UNSC.

"UNSC Imperative, ready for action!" Oh? A resupply ship? So today's a support unit day, huh? Alrighty.

With the excitement over, I returned to my office.

Sign off, sign off, reject, ignore, blah blah blah….

I don't like paperwork, in case you didn't notice.

Anyways, I now had what I considered enough numbers to begin scouting and recon into Sector A.

To wit, I called all the combat capable ships that weren't in the R&D division into my office. The twelve destroyers, two light cruisers, and one carrier were to scout the Sector and confirm it's size and shape. Once done, the eggheads would divide the sector into sections. I designated Akagi flagship, mentioning her recon ships would be effective for the operation. If they were spotted by enemy forces and engaged, they had the option to either fight or retreat, but they could not initiate hostilities. All of them saluted, and left for the staging platform.

I was quite surprised that they all lifted off in a formation. I guess they did that to impress me? I dunno, maybe it's cause they're ships. Though, I do recall seeing the _Aether_ recently….

Ignoring that, I went on to other things, like brushing up on my SRS99C sniping skills. And my M6G Magnum skill. I basically went through the entire armory making sure I hadn't gotten too rusty with my shooting. Then I went to the melee training area and drew a silver barbell from my thigh.

The energy sword ignited with that magnificent *kssh*, the plasma blade extending in front of and surrounding my wrist. I went through some sword forms I'd learned from a Sangheili swordsmaster on… was it Gemini II? I'm pretty sure it was Gemini II. He'd been surprised a human wanted to learn his species' most honorable combat style. I think that earned politics points for us. Bah, politics.

Turning the blade off, I went off to check the dorms. Yup, each had their own common rooms, so that part of the plan would work.

The second part also looked to be a viable option soon, as Kamoi came to me and requested supplies to build a bar, basically. I approved, then asked who'd run it. She said they'd be here tomorrow.

The suspense, man.

The fleet returned at 1700 hours, none of them with injury. They'd scouted the Sector, about 2400 by 1700 AUs, if we were going rectangular. I sent off the area as required and sent them to dinner. The after-action report from Akagi mentioned no resistance was encountered, but they spotted enemy movement. Small types. I included images her recon ships had taken in the report.

The mess hall was lively as the girls celebrated a successful mission. Better than during the war, where it was either temporary stalemate or devastating loss. Of course, it had nothing on the celebration we had when we realized we weren't going to die in 2553.

Every shipgirl was there, and there was food to go around. Half the fun was keeping Akagi away from it to ensure everyone else could eat. Of course, boob jokes disguised as fuel tank jokes were made, thankfully flying over the destroyers' heads. They acted way too much like kids for me to be comfortable understanding that.

Of course, this was an easy mission. They only get worse from here.

* * *

 _Greetings, Admiral Steele._

 _Your directory access is Classification Level 7._

 _Retrieving file..._

 _ONI Personnel File: SPARTAN Lieutenant [REDACTED Terra] B312 (Noble Six)_

 _Homeworld: [REDACTED Reach]_

 _Birthdate: [REDACTED 2544]_

 _Rank: Lieutenant_

 _Career: Marine; 25th Infantry; SPARTAN III (Beta Company)_

* * *

 **The Rant**

 **And so our intrepid shipgirls charted a sector for future endeavors.**

 **Also, a party was had.**

 **In all seriousness, it's not going to be all fine and dandy every mission. I'll get to that later. For now, easy missions to** **ease them into it.**

 **Commanding isn't pretty.**

 **Also, a Merry-ass Christmas to you, depending on when I post this. Once I get out of December, I plan on having this be a biweekly or monthly series, so as to give me time to work on other projects, since these are relatively easy to write. But please, feel free to drop a review/follow/favorite/whatever whenever you'd like. I won't mind.**

 **Also railguns.**

 **Publish note: Almost didn't get this out on time! I blame Stardew Valley; I found out why it's addicting. Now to romance my waifus (Not sorry).**


	5. Admiral's Log- Day 5: Search and Destroy

**So I've made an executive decision to start possibly including shipgirls from games other than KanColle and Halo/my own fucked up mind. I guess send requests and I'll research or something.**

 **Either way, I have reading to do.**

 **Thanks for the follow/fav Fid99.**

 **With no more egostrok- imean thanking, onward!**

 **And for those wondering why I dont put disclaimers in front of my stuff... it should be obvious I don't have any legal ownership of either Halo or Kantai Collection. so don't ask about it.**

* * *

 _Journal of Admiral Steele; January 5, 2558_

Another day, another day, another coffee. Praise the caffeine gods. They bless us with their gift.

Dramatics aside, I put through requisition orders for stuff to build a small gathering place. Considering the most likely outcome would be loads of destroyers and a few other ship types, most of the population would be _under_ the drinking age… in appearance at least. So I was vetoing a pure bar and instead having it be like a small restaurant…. with a bar.

Look, it was a good idea, alright?

I also ordered a half dozen holoconsoles. The best part of those was that they played any game you could think of, even ancient ones from the 1980s. It was great for someone like me, who was about to have what amounted to a really fucked up family on their hands.

Guh, why am I discussing that with myself?

So today's new arrivals are Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Hood, Dreadnought, Bismarck, Kongo, Hiei, Kirishima, Haruna, Prince of Wales, Yamato, Musashi, and Houshou. Some recognizable names there. This is a battleship shipment… okay, let's try that again.

They're sending the big guns now. Probably has to do with them getting the data from yesterday's recon mission.

They've divided the sector into six subsectors: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, and Foxtrot. Standard naming convention. Though the whole sector is still Sector A so…. yeah.

Logging off, I went off to the range to burn the half-hour until they arrived. I spent the time focusing on my reaction times. Wait, target, fire, wait. Almost like a real combat situation, but without moving and hearing shouting aliens.

Some of the girls were also on the range. Paladin and her sisters were trying to one-up each other for distance, Akagi was calmly practicing bombing runs, and Tenryuu was leading the destroyers in maneuvering training in the zero-g range. Good.

When the ship pulled up to the receiving bay, there I was, as usual. After brushing up on my ship history, I learned I was getting some of the most powerful ships on Earth. Back in the early 20th century, HMS _Dreadnought_ had literally sparked a naval arms race, a naval arms race that lead to the constructions of _Texas_ , _Arkansas_ , _Louisiana_ , _Bismarck_ , the _Kongo_ s, _Prince of Wales_ , and _Yamato_ , the last widely considered to be the most powerful battleship ever constructed… well, water ship. Any UNSC ship could blow it out of the water, but it never got to _use_ it's supposed power because the IJN kept it hidden away because they knew the US could total it in three seconds. Which they did when the Japanese tossed it out as _bait_.

Christ, our ancestors were a bunch of fucking idiots.

"Texas, here, reporting for duty!" A blonde woman in a red flannel shirt, blue jeans, and leather boots said as she saluted. That is a Texas accent alright. And she dresses like the stereotypical 'woman farmer'. Dear god, I'm half expecting an argument to break out over steaks later with a British ship. They like theirs _well done_.

"Arkansas, ready!" Like one, like another, or something to that effect. She looked about the same, at any rate, only she had a navy blue vest on over her shirt. Louisiana, on the other hand, looked like she was preparing to go wading through a swamp in her camo wetland gear..

"Dreadnought, at your service, Admiral." She certainly had an air of dignity around her. I really hope she isn't too ornery, and if she meets UNSC Dreadnought, bad things don't happen.

The next two really surprised me.

"Hood, reporting for duty!"

"Bismarck, ready to go!"

The girls were standing next to each other and _not_ trying to kill the other. Time really heals all wounds, don't it? Of course, this could be appearances.

"BURNING- LOOOOO-" The next shipgirl flew over my head as I hastily ducked a flying tackle. She was speaking… English accented Japanese?

Kongo. I read about that whole deal. Her sisters were more sedate at least.

"Prince of Wales, at your service." Another British ship. Very regal, proper 45 degree bow, hand about the sternum. Dressed in a flaring coat.

That just leaves the last… three.

"Greetings. I am Houshou, here to serve." The carrier bowed deeply. It was a very formal gesture. I recalled what… Kamoi, had said yesterday. She must be the proprietor to run the not-bar. Fair enough. She was the first aircraft carrier, and likely more fragile than later models. I only hope she doesn't eat as much as Akagi.

That just leaves Ya- well.

"I, Yamato, am here to serve, Admiral." Yamato was even more formal than Houshou, adjusting her parasol as she straightened from her bow. Her white and red kimono almost looked form-fitting, were it not for the drop her... fuel tanks caused for the middle.

"As am I, Musashi." Musashi seemed a little more laid back. And revealing. Her kimono was slipping off her shoulders, and she had bound her chest somewhat. She does that herself, right?

Ignoring the amount of skin, I directed them to their new living locations and training facilities, and left them to it.

I had a date with Jack.

* * *

Several bottles later I found my alcohol tolerance was still depressingly high. Of course, it was also sortie time, so I had to figure out what to do for that.

I settled for a smash and grab operation into Subsector Alpha. They were to head in, find any Abyssal things, and smash. They were also under orders to capture an Abyssal unit _if possible_ , since Phoenix had asked if I could do that.

I replied with 'You're asking the ODST?' I left it up to them to figure out if I was saying I would or wouldn't.

I do _so_ love being evil sometimes.

The flagship for this sortie is to be one of the battleships this time, Yamato I suppose. Heavy firepower means more smashy. I did, however, issue orders that they were to fall back if they got critically injured. I didn't want any of them going down out there because of pride or misguided sense of invincibility.

We had that before Harvest. We don't anymore.

The fleet saluted and left, leaving me to wonder if I had made the right choice. The chains of commanding.

The pit in my stomach had me gravitate to the mess hall, where I sat in silence with a mug of hot chocolate in my hands, and another across the table.

"Hey sis." I said quietly. I didn't want any of the girls to come over and ask about this. "How've you been? Wait, you've been dead." I let a wry laugh out.

"Did you hate me, when Reach fell? They pulled me out too early, I think. I would have gladly died defending Reach. Even more if I had known you would also die with me." I drank. "But I didn't. I survived Reach. I survived Earth. I survived the Ark. And now I'm here." I motioned helplessly outwards. "Commanding ship spirits that look like girls." I stared into my mug.

"I just wonder…. am I doing things right?"

I felt a warm feeling on my shoulder, like someone had put their hand on it in sympathy, but no one was there when I turned around. When I turned back, the other mug was clean as a whistle.

I'm either snapping, or my sister's _ghost_ is following me. And I'm not sure which one is more terrifying.

* * *

I was staring at the ceiling when Ooyodo poked her head into my office and informed me the fleet had returned.

I ran to the staging area, hoping that my gut was just being paranoid.

Thankfully it was. The whole fleet was there, although some of them had suffered some damage. Akatsuki's face was burned- plasma. I grimaced- the Abyssals were reminding me too much of the Covenant for comfort.

Paladin was missing an arm. She would be out of action for a week.

Various minor injuries among the cruisers and battleships.

But the best part was the three resigned Abyssals sitting in a pile, all tied together with laser wire.

One of them sort of looked like a goo tadpole with eyes. Squishy too.

Another looked like a young girl with long hair and red eyes. Destroyer, probably.

The last one had a similar body type to Tenryuu and Tatsuta, which means it's probably a light cruiser.

I informed them that we'd probably be stashing them somewhere for the night, which they seemed to understand, but didn't reply to. I couldn't understand them anyways, since my translator program doesn't have Abyssal coded in it.

I'd complain but I think I'd get court-martialed then.

We let the Abyssals out of the rope, and they didn't immediately leg it (fly it?) or try to attack, which meant they were either passive outside the Sector, or knew they were rather massively outgunned. But the destroyer-type and the tadpole followed Tenryuu around like her usual bunch of ducklings, and the cruiser was… I think asking Akagi about her fashion sense?

I quit attempting to make sense of it, ascertained my sanity was finally going, and went to find a drink.

* * *

So Abyssals eat food.

Watching the tadpole osmosis a sandwich was rather fun with the bottle of bourbon I'd found, and the other two were human enough they had mouths. With disturbing amounts of teeth, granted, but Sangheili had split jaws, and Hunters were literally worm colonies or something. Teeth were near the bottom of my 'Freaky Shit' list. But they had plopped down with their own food trays and eaten with the rest of us.

I know these guys have a 'no-enter' zone in the sector, but apparently they were real passive outside it.

Sigh…. today was a real day.

* * *

 **The Rant**

 **Let it be known that I'm not evil enough to off a shipgirl yet. I mean it really wouldn't matter** _ **much**_ **, and I might have to anyway so I can actually keep track of all the characters, but not** _ **yet**_ **.**

 **As an aside, what the hell is a screwdriver that unscrews screws with dome-shapes? Dome-head screwdrivers?**

 **Publish Note: It's midnight, New Year's Eve, people aren't paying attention to their inboxes.**

 **Perfect time for an update! (Shoutouts to the Id of the Cross-Brain, The Patient One, for the quote (not exactly))**


	6. Admiral's Log- Day 6: Take Some Time Off

**Before anything else, I was driving myself stir-crazy not doing anything and couldn't wait for another week. This is because I used to upload stuff the instant I finished it. This is why schedules bother me to some degree.**

 **On a somewhat unrelated note, have you ever been high on caffeine before? Time stops and you see some _shit_.**

* * *

 **The Review Box:**

 **KCNederland (This was a PM, but it's in response to the last chapter, so I'm listing it as a review): That's kinda what I was alluding to. The _Dreadnought_ 's launch basically made everything built before it obsolete, something that wasn't a big deal until more ships modeled after it were constructed. It basically started a dreadnought-type arms race. Then Jutland happened and battlecruisers became obsolete as well, something that wouldn't help HMS _Hood_ 's chances in WWII.**

 **When I said 'in response', I meant 'so we aren't left behind'. Remember, this is the 20th century. The world powers were still trying to stay on top of each other since the US didn't have the 'Superior Firepower' power it has today. _Bismarck_ was specifically constructed as a 'fuck you' to the British. It flagrantly ignored every post-Great War treaty, and could literally sink anything the Royal Navy had at the time if they didn't come at it strategically or with overwhelming force (as indeed, the British had to do to sink it near France.)**

 **Considering she never saw actual action, _Yamato_ remains the most largest powerful on paper. Me personally, I assumed they were talking by Japan's standards, and there are actual historians who hype _Yamato_ up as the most powerful ship. No, that anime doesn't help either. Some say _Bismarck_. I say 'I don't care'.**

 ** _Yamato_ was basically used as a hotel for higher-ups in the Navy side of the junta. She was also built as a giant pride deal (Yamato roughly translates to Japan, and is the name of the Japanese ethnic group), and her sinking was a huge morale blow. I'm referring to Operation Ten-Go, which you did accurately describe, however _Yamato_ was sunk very easily in comparison to her projected firepower. Again, Japan was on the back foot, thanks in part to their terrible military strategy. I am in full understanding of that.**

 **I am not judging them for being idiots, merely observing it. That fact that those who came before us were stupid is a lesson not to be stupid in the same way. Hindsight is, indeed, 20/20.**

 **That was kind of a joke, but I didn't need to unscrew them anyways. I just started wondering about if there were dome-head screwdrivers.**

 **Thanks for the interest. I will attempt to live up to it.**

 **Fid99:** **I know, right? I wanted to see a story of shipgirls in the Haloverse, so I made one.**

 **Admiral Steele takes after me a lot, in terms of acting, so she gets the 'sure, let's go with that' rolling with it from me (except the alcoholism bit). I (and her) have seen so much shit that something has to be really out of left field to surprise us. And her history as an ODST, who are consistently described as insane sons-a-bitches for voluntarily being dropped from orbit onto live firefights.**

 **Thank you for your interest. A less shitty year to you as well.**

 **Thanks to Ender001 for the follow/favorite. I'm being serious here, I really want people to enjoy this. It helps me know what I'm doing right and therefore improve on what I'm not.**

* * *

 _Journal of Admiral Steele; January 6, 2558_

Oh, glory me, the _weekend_. A legitimate excuse to not wear that stuffy-ass uni- there is something on my face.

Soft. Large. So either Akagi or a battleship. _Vibrating on top of me_?

"Kongo, get off me." My order was slightly muffled by her, ahem, chest.

"Of course, teitoku!" Girl was too goddamn cheerful for this time of morning. Or at all. Ignoring the battleship for the time being, I just grabbed a tank and shorts from my wardrobe, dressed, then pulled my hair back into a ponytail, the scrunchie almost disappearing into my blue strands.

Yes, I dye it. No, I'm not telling you if the carpet matches. Fuck you, ONI, I know you're reading this. Assholes.

Stepping out of my quarters, I walked a quick circuit around the station, plotting a route in my head. Then I plugged my earbuds in my ears, started my music, and started running at the receiving bay.

Heavy metal really gets the blood flowing. Singing along with it helps the aerobic workout. Military's been doing it since the 19th century.

It took me four laps around the station to start sweating, and another three for me to get too exhausted to keep going. Once I reached the receiving bay one last time, I beelined for the mess hall to get food and water. I sat and knocked my water bottle back.

"Hey, Admiral?" I think it was Inazuma that asked me that. "What are we doing today? You aren't wearing your uniform, nanodesu."

"Weekends aren't real serious anymore." I said, waving offhand. "We get shit for it from the Sangheili, but they know we're never really off guard."

"I see, nanodesu." I took a moment to study her while she bit into an apple. She was wearing what looked like an old Imperial Japanese naval uniform, only mini-sized. She had her hat on asymmetrically, as opposed to her sisters and other destroyers of her ilk. She had her brown hair brushed to the left today.

If anything, she looked like a kid dressing as a sailor. Most destroyers do. The difference between these older ones and the UNSC models is the uniform and color scheme. UNSC destroyers wore short coats and pants, and no hat. It was all greyscale too, except their hair, which was any color, like these guys.

Really, they were just…. Ships as people.

I snorted ruefully into my water. That didn't make me feel any better. Why the hell was I the one assigned to this whole debacle? A small group of girls, no matter how human, weren't going to really make up for the 150 billion the Covenant killed off.

Hell, they barely made up for one.

I stood and left, ignoring the questions about the sudden dark look. I just wanted to be alone, away from all… this.

* * *

I wasn't surprised one of them came after me. I figured riddling the lane range with bullet holes would draw someone, though I overestimated their response time.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, it was Tenryuu who stepped up into the lane next to me. More surprisingly was her summoning her guns, loading them with practice rounds, and firing beside me in silence.

We continued on like that until I ran out of practice ammo for my BR85HB. She was still firing at an Abyssal-shaped target, steadily painting the figure the electric purple of practice paint.

"I had a sister too." I said, quietly. Tenryuu's eyes widened, but she said nothing. "We both fought in the war. Then we were approached by ONI."

I went and sat on an observation bench, disassembling my rifle once I was sitting. "They wanted to recruit us for their uber-secret SPARTAN-III program. She made it. I didn't." The barrel came away, and I set it to the side. "They said I had 'the wrong body profile' for it. I hated them for it. So I joined the ODSTs to spite them." I reached for a cloth and polish. The sounds of cannonfire had stopped. "It was hell, but the thought that drove me on was getting back at ONI for being so high and mighty, for taking my little sister away." I was rubbing at a stubborn spot probably more than was necessary. "So I did. Reached Commander in about four months. 'Course, we were dropping like flies. Covenant were killing us faster than we could evacuate. It started feeling meaningless after Corporal. Then I made Admiralty. I fired a HAVOC nuke into an unshielded corvette and then MAC'd it to detonate the thing. Blew it in half, and I was being hauled before HIGHCOM for 'bravery against insurmountable odds'." Cleaning done, I began to reassemble the rifle, sliding the barrel in with a _clack_.

"Then I found the bitch who started SPARTAN-III. Parangosky. So what do I do? I just so happen to find out her clearance password. It just so happens that the next day, she was being charged with torture of minors, kidnapping, murder in the second degree, crimes against humanity, they slammed the book in her face. We had won the war by now, but the SPARTAN-IIIs had little to do with it. A SPARTAN-II was who saved us, not ONI's little pet project." I slid the last part on the rifle. "She was given the death sentence. So imagine my surprise when, as an Admiral, I find her being put on my ship, and given the order to toss her out the airlock." I still remembered, both the look of absolute terror on her face, and the feeling of… joy on mine. "So I did. I said nothing to her, even as she threatened me with everything. But I felt nothing, nothing as she was pulled out by depressurization, nothing as she floated by, struggling to breathe, nothing as she died from vacuum exposure."

"They failed in taking my sister's humanity. She was human until the end. But the succeeded in destroying mine." The rifle's barrel was tilted in such a way as to be aimed right at my right temple. If my finger slipped-

"Don't be stupid."

"Huh?" The glib statement caught me completely off-guard.

"How could they do that, huh? If anything, you're the most human… human I've met." The light cruiser turned around, her guns gone. It felt like the eyepatch was drilling into me with her other eye. "Granted, I haven't met very many, but you know exactly how we feel. Well, us IJN girls anyways." Oh, right. Except Japan was kind of the opposite of the Covenant. They were kicking the US's ass until Midway, then it all started to go to shit. The Covenant had always had the upper hand, until the Great Schism, and Delta Halo. Down their elite -heh- troops, and with only one megalomaniac leading them, the Covenant were almost a bad memory once we slaughtered them on the Ark. "We know what it's like to fear the end."

"Yeah, but my sister's gone. You're all coming back. Hell, I'm not sure you even _can_ die." I muttered. I felt her hand on my shoulder, surprisingly gentle for her brash attitude.

"Then keep going. It's all behind you. Give us a chance. We haven't let you down yet, have we?" I looked into her eye, shark-like grin on her face, and sighed.

"I guess…"

"That's the spirit! Say, what's with all those boxes sitting in the receiving bay? They've been sitting there since you left for here." I let a small smile form. A small little act of kindness, even if I had justified it by an experiment I randomly thought up.

"Past Me helping Future Me live up to your advice." I said quietly. I stood and left, not particularly caring if the light cruiser followed or not.

* * *

Sure enough, the holoconsoles had arrived, as had construction supplies for the not-bar. I spent a few hours connecting the consoles to the TVs in each of the dorm common rooms, checking to make sure they worked, then continuing on my way. After I was done, I then went to go organize an effort to build the not-bar, starting with enlisting Houshou to help me design the place while we listened to the others discover the joys of video games.

We had assembled a foundation when I got tackled from behind by about a dozen destroyers, all talking over each other about how much they loved my present, I was the best admiral ever, all at three thousand words a second. I, by contrast, was trying to get my breath back, and push them off. Those little rugrats were _heavy_!

Once I finally got them off, I had to endure thanks and question after question as it felt like half the shipgirls on base were trying to get my undivided attention. Thankfully, I managed to get them off my back by helpfully suggesting that they could help Houshou with her not-bar. They were raising a wall last I checked. I've been hiding in my quarters ever since.

I wanted to be alone, anyway.

I was so engrossed in staring at the ceiling that I didn't notice Tenryuu had come in until she waved her hand in front of my face while leaning over me.

"Well, Past You doesn't seem to be too bad, does she?" She smirked as I sat up, letting my joints move.

"No, I suppose she doesn't." I stretched with a groan as I felt my joints work again. Then I thought something. "Hey, Tenryuu? Do you… remember your old Admiral?" She fell silent.

"I remember… He believed himself an honorable man. But we did such dishonorable actions...So yes. You're much better than he ever was. Cuter too." Wait, did she just say that?"

"Cuter?" I think my face was approaching something like red giant star visibility. It looked like she didn't mean to say it, as she blushed like I did.

"Y-yeah, cuter. What, can't take a compliment?" She said, though she was faking the toughness in her voice. She backed up, hand flailing for the door release, until she hit it and ran.

"Well, of course I'm cuter. Her old XO was probably old and male." I muttered, having a somewhat forced laugh about the last few minutes.

I had felt a thrill down my spine when she'd called me cute, a thrill I'd never felt in years of idiotic guys hitting on me in high school, or years of dumbass privates hitting on me in the military. And as I lay back on the bed, I wondered if I could feel that thrill again.

* * *

 **The Rant**

 **So, now we know why our little Admiral doesn't really have the fondest of memories with ONI. Granted, the in-universe Office of Naval Intelligence could take a really long walk off a really short pier, but to my knowledge, the real one is fine.**

 **Give 'em five centuries, maybe.**

 **Now we also know why she joined the ODSTs, which are not all referred to as 'Helljumpers', by the way. Just the unit Rook's a part of in 3: ODST.**

 **Plus, OMGZ SHIPPING?! IN** _ **MY FANFICTION?!**_

 **Relax. I'm fuckin with ya. I don't really care if there's shipping. They are ships, after all.**

 **As an aside: Biggest does not equal most destructive. Yes, I am looking at you, Japan.**

 **So, I had a… relatively nice winter break. I got my computer finished, had Christmas a week late, on New Year's… Eve I think, took a little vacation, got married and beat some bullshit hard levels in Super Meat Boy. Fucking Cotton Alley…**

 **Rejoice, for another year has passed without us killing each other yet. Although from what I hear, Britain is accidentally freeing Europe from German tyranny again. Meanwhile we get to deal with Communists in our government trying to get rid of one of the things keeping America free from the tyranny of the majority.**

 **God help us all.**


	7. Admiral's Log- Day 7: Breakable Things

**Thanks to Mile123457, Aelyx, and MarauderPrime12 for the follows/faves. Poke.**

 **The Review Box:**

 **Fid88: Thank you.**

 **This is what happens when you give your intelligence agency effective training, and unlimited political power. (see: KGB)**

 **I really wasn't sure how that moment would turn out, to be honest. I'm somewhat... emotionally detached (thanks to the Internet, I've become immune to what most would consider trauma).**

 **There are thousands of ships. Most are destroyers. 'Twas inevitable, really. Though Tenryuu only has four to deal with.**

 **Hence the joke in the last AN.**

 **Let's see if I can wait two weeks this time.**

 **The crimson trucker: Thank you!**

 **And considering I have no fucking clue what Gundam Seed _is_ , unfortunately not. And I'm not researching it, read the Ship List for why not.**

 **MarauderPrime12: Uh, okay?...**

 ***One clarification later...*Oh, yeah.**

 **That's piss compared to alien blood. Can't get more hardcore than that.**

 **You won't have to wait very long. And thank you.**

* * *

 **'I hate it when I think something is wrong but it's something else entirely.'**

 **'Notifications are loaded with dopamine; AKA why I'm checking my email every ten minutes.'**

 **'These things are getting harder to write.'**

 **Words to live by.**

 **We now return to your regularly scheduled shipgirls.**

* * *

 _Journal of Admiral Steele; January 7th, 2558_

Today is Sunday. Know what that means?

Coffee. Sue me, caffeine is how I wake up.

* * *

I waited to get breakfast until I knew every shipgirl on base was in the mess hall (and I meant _every_ \- I had to badger Ooyodo to get her out from behind her desk) then stepped out from where I had been hiding, clinking a pilfered spoon against my mug. The room fell silent as everyone there turned their attention to me.

Brief panic… okay, mouth, don't fuck it up for the rest of me.

"Hey there. So, I suppose it'll be good for you all to know just what kind of Admiral I am. I dunno how your XOs were in your past lives, but I know how I am! I'm pretty freewheeling, so to speak, so so long as you aren't doing anything too destructive, illegal, or against rules and regulations, you're cool. I know what it's like being in the trenches, so to speak, so I understand what you do to unwind. Just keep it to yourself and at low enough volume. Walls aren't that thick." A short round of laughter at the comment, and a few shipgirls blushing. "Anyways, that's it. Call me Aqua, Steele, Admiral Steele, pretty much anything. You'll know if I veto your nickname. Carry on." A chorus of affirmations came my way as I tossed the spoon towards the dish pit, got my breakfast, and sat.

Things went more or less back to normal, the hum of conversation filling the mess again, until I felt something squish against my side.

I glanced down to see the Abyssal light cruiser looking up at me like a puppy. Okaaaay…

"Hey there." I said, raising a hand and an eyebrow. She flinched back, but stayed when I put my hand on her head. Whoa, her hair is really soft.

Absently, I started to scritch, like one would do for a dog or a cat. In the meantime I went back to my food. I went on autopilot until I felt her pressing into me again, harder this time. Sure enough, she was nuzzling into my hand. I was sure if she had a tail it'd be wagging a mile a minute.

Next thing I know, I'm tackled from behind, my face is on the table, and I feel… well, I don't feel my nose. Oh, wait, now I do. SON OF A-

"OW!" I shouted into the table, attempting to move my hands to my nose, except there was a real heavy weight on my back.

"Oh! Admiral, are you alright?" A new voice worriedly asked.

"NO! NOW GET OFF ME DAMMIT!" I may have been a little bit louder than I needed to be, but fucking hell, I get angry when I'm injured. And a broken nose pissed me the fuck off. A yipe accompanied the weight leaving my spine, and I quickly stood up, holding a hand to my nose and booked it to the medical area.

* * *

I have had a revelation… we don't have a medic. I am the only person here, and I am not medically trained. _Who staffed this place?!_

"OOYODO!" I bellowed. The secretary ship appeared soon after, saluting shakily. "Send command a request for either a medic or an AI trained for this shit, and ask them what the hell they were thinking for not having a medic for the one human on this godforsaken station." I grit out. She nodded, turned, and ran off.

Incompetent bureaucrats, swear to shit.

* * *

About ten minutes later, I had gone back to my office with tape and just put my nose back together, field-style, and taped an ice pack to it, when I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in." A sheepish destroyer came in, pushing her index fingers together. Another, looking rather irritated with the one in front of her, followed, along with a third that looked apathetic. "Can I help you?" I asked, with a slight edge to my tone from the broken nose.

"I'm sorry, Admiral." The one in front mumbled. I raised an eyebrow.

"What was that?" She was tearing up. Oh… shit.

"I'm sorry!" She squeaked. I sighed, walking around the desk to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Look, I know you didn't mean to hurt me. I get angry when I'm injured. It's just how I work." I said. She was looking into my eyes, her own watering, but thankfully not spilling over. "Just don't do that again, alright?"

"O-okay." She sniffled. Now that the imminent crisis was over, I could get a better look at them. And what a mix they were. The one that had tackled me into a table was short, blonde, and rather… top-heavy, the annoyed one was taller, brunette, and slim, and the apathetic one was small with blue hair, though a brighter blue than mine. Then… when did that fourth one get in here? She's barely wearing anything!

For the…. Fuck it, I've lost count of how many times I've questioned everything. I may actually have snapped, and this is just a delusion. I'm actually in a padded cell, wrapped in a straitjacket, mumbling to myself about human ships.

"You four new?" I asked. Tall and angry nodded and stepped forward, slightly less angry now.

"Yes, ma'am. Yuudachi, Kashima, Shigure, and Katsuragi, reporting for duty." She snapped a salute, one barely copied by Apathy, more copied by Sad and Vaporwear. I presume Sad was Yuudachi, Angry was Kashima, Apathy was Shigure, and that left Katsuragi by process of elimination wearing jack.

"Great. Anyone else with you?" I asked, resting my head on my hand, suddenly really tired. Blood loss, probably. I needed to eat again. Joy…

"Yeah. Five Ashfords and the two Fusous." Okay, five frigates and two battleships. "They also took the Abyssals you guys captured. You should get a message about that soon."

"Awesome. Now can you let me try to heal in peace, please?" I sighed. Kashima nodded, and the four left. I sighed.

Today has been a goddamn _day_ I swear. I went back to my quarters and flopped onto my bed, taking care not to land on my nose, and just lay there for a while.

At least tomorrow would have some progress made.

Now then, food...

* * *

 **The Rant**

 ***rolls sanity check*.**

 **... is an 18 'sane' or 'off the deep end'?**

 **Be careful, kids, jealousy leads shipgirls to accidentally break their Admiral's noses. Also, who doesn't staff a** _ **medic**_ **? Even if the Admiral's the only other normal person on the station otherwise, it's still fucking stupid.**

 **Well, they'll probably just delegate it to some company that they paid the lowest amount to and call it a day.**

 **So, do let me know if I'm terribly butchering personalities/horribly misnaming shipgirls/ doing anything wrong, because I've fallen out of KanColle recently (Stardew Valley/finally getting my computer set up) and I need to acclimatize. Hence the shortness of this chapter. At least this is biweekly now.**

 **Publish Note: So I've recently been debating joining SpaceBattles. For those who don't know, SpaceBattles is a forum for just about everything, only insted of having the garbage of the internet (4chan), it has sociopaths discussing nuclear decay and if the A-10 'Warthog' is obsolete (which it is _not_ , that fucker will _never die!_ ). I fit in disturbingly well with that crowd, and I imagine they'd get somewhat of a kick out of this (assuming I don't get barraged by 'purists' or something.)**

 **Hell if I know, the AO3 thing hasn't really panned out. Maybe God is trying to tell me something.**

 **Nah.**


	8. Admiral's Log- Day 8: PAC

**I suppose keeping a 1.5-2k word count per chapter is alright. I was worrying this was short.**

 **I mean, it is, but I can read a 100,000+ word thing in about a day, so it might just be me. And I'm not going to start posting wordcounts. That's cheating, and this isn't that much of a vanity fair.**

 **2x faster brain, FTW.**

 **On the topic of my questionable mental structure, I took the Mary Sue Litmus Test for Aqua, and she came in at probably a six or seven without the point subtractors at the end. With them she's a one. Which means I need to work on my character development or that test doesn't take my (and by extension, Aqua's) psyche into account for Sueism.**

 **Please tell me if my character development sucks/I'm writing Aqua as a Mary Sue. I'm insecure enough about the characters as is.**

 **Also, I came up with a mental image of Aqua being crushed under a wave of shipgirls, and had to share.**

 **The Review Box:**

 **Fid99: Uh, whoops.**

 **And thank you, thank you.**

 **AmythestPone (review and PM reply): ...Which one?**

 **... Maybe jumped the gun on 'Past Me' shipping (how do you ship- wait, I've seen it.). I can say that I'm rather sure I'm not shipping anyone with their past self. Hopefully.**

 **Thanks to AmythestPone and Captiosus for the follow.**

* * *

 **Jawsome VS KH3: So I did something I wouldn't normally do and bought a game day one. It is Kingdom Hearts 3, which had fifty fuckin' years of dev time between the fifteen thousand remakes, Birth by Sleep (still need to play that) and 3D, and I worked for it, dammit. This commentary was actually written after this chapter was already done. I just moved it and the other KH commentary here because I wanted to share.**

 **(Day 2) So far, been enjoying KH3. It's… somewhat predictable, and my Sora, Donald, Goofy counter crashed midway through the Toy Story world (mostly because I stopped caring), but the game controls nice once you learn them (curse you Automata for spoiling me on controller customization(fuck the coliseums in that game)). Story is… well, as expected. I honestly think Nomura is just writing as he goes. At least it's not retellings of the movies every time. So far Corona has been, and Arendelle is looking like it, unlike Olympus and Toy Box. They also nerfed Twilight Town- there's only the tram common, some underground (a new section at least), the forest and the mansion. And you only go in in a cutscene.**

 **(Day 6) HOLY FUCKING SHIT.**

 **MY HEAD.**

 **WHAT EVEN.**

 **NOMURA, Y U DO DIS.**

* * *

 **We now return to your regularly scheduled shipgirls.**

 **And the schedule is far worse for me than it is for you.**

* * *

 _Journal of Admiral Steele, January 8, 2558_

It's Monday. Fun stops here, and there's no going back.

And I've run out of ways to describe my caffeine addiction, so enough of that.

* * *

This morning I dropped in on the R&D division as I was referring to it as. So far the repair and research ships had been quiet, which either meant they had nothing to do, or were up to something.

Neither sounded good.

"Admiral." Luna saluted me as I entered, standing next to a desk piled with paper and scrap metal. I nodded as I walked over to her to figure out what the hell was going on. The paper was full of scribbles that went way over my head. Something about... the coefficient of electricity? Maybe?

"So, what have you been up to? And I see you've dropped the 'hot scientist' act." I said, picking up a piece of paper with what looked like a force/distance equation on it. The research ship took it from me with a slight scowl and set it back, then picked up a small square.

"I know when to be serious. And this is rather serious. We- Akashi, Aether, and I- have been probing the firepower differential between shipgirls with natural UNSC weaponry and updated weaponry." Luna began. "In that, we began to theorize about alternative forms of assault, like MACs and whatnot, but what we have here is quite possibly the best of all. Call in a battleship for me, will you?"

* * *

"You rang, Admiral?" Texas asked after her salute.

"C'mere." Luna walked around behind the battleship, took hold of her belt, and slapped the square on it, where it lit up with a green indicator.

"Hey! Watch the merchandise." Texas grumbled, looking down at her new belt accessory.

"So far the only thing I've seen that used for is to slap a girl's ass." I deadpanned. Granted, the battleship did have a nice one, but still.

"That's because it's interfacing with her weapons systems." Luna retorted, picking up a tablet and tapping a few times. A large target rose up on the opposite end of the room. "Run testfirev4. EXE aiming at that target." She directed Texas, who shrugged, manifested her guns, and aimed.

Suddenly, a beam of blue light fired out of one of her battery guns, dead on target. Texas was knocked onto her ass as the target gained a black spot where the goddamn laser beam had hit it. Luna pumped her fist in victory. I think I feel a grin on my face.

"I love it." I declared in no uncertain terms from where I was leaning against the desk. "I don't care if it's just a Splaser program, I love it."

"Damn straight! Thing kicks like an angry longhorn, but it's e-ffective!" Texas said as she stood up. She then turned to Luna with- her eyes are actually shining, okay. "Can I keep it?"

"Of course." Luna smirked. "It was kinda a first-come first-serve type deal. Provide data about it on combat missions and we can roll it out to the rest of the battleships and even upgrade it too." She was then tackled by a happy battleship that was saying 'thank you' so fast it was blurring together.

After a good laugh at the situation, I dismissed Texas to go about her business (which I expected would include bragging to the other battleships and then a deluge of requests for a laser. Which I would dump on Luna's desk and forget about), and helped the research ship off the floor.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anything quite as spectacular as what they had called the 'Shipgirl Laser' (creative, although the original Spartan Laser was also rather uncreative with it's name). Just bits, pieces, and proofs of concept. I told them to keep at it.

Next on the list… 1000 hours…

Ah yes, shooty time.

* * *

One in the chamber… pump… five in the tube… aim… brace…

*BLAM!*

My shotgun barked as double-aught buck tore into a target. I pumped, and fired again, dropping the target and another shell to the floor. I emptied the tube and dropped two more targets, then loaded six SLUG (Shotgun Loaded Uranium Group) rounds. Each pretty little explosion blew apart a target, which repaired back soon enough. Then I loaded six Whiplash slug rounds. Sighting targets further downrange, I fired. Once I had emptied the tube, I took it over to a bench for some cleaning, idly observing the shells be cleaned by the automated disposal as I snapped the action open. As I began to work, a battlecruiser -Hood- walked in, set up her range and summoned her guns, opening fire. I idly watched the pride of the old British Navy work, noting how she grimaced slightly when she missed, or winced sometimes when she hit a target on the top and bottom. Bracketing, I idly recalled, left an old ship dead in the water. But it was when a round punched through where a target's heart would be that she suddenly lost all color, her guns disappearing, as she began to shake uncontrollably.

Wait… wasn't that…

I wrapped my arms around her, studiously ignoring the fact that she could crush any bone in my body if she retaliated, trying to get her out of whatever the hell had just come over her. She was shaking, muttering over and over something about a pink explosion, weak deck armor, her Admiral going down, into the darkness.

"Hood." I said. "Hood!" I began to repeat myself until she finally stopped. She was staring at me now, fear in her watery eyes. "It's fine. You're here now." I said. "It's gonna be fine."

"But Admiral…" She muttered, looking at the ground in misery. "What if you die too?" I laughed.

"I can't really go down with you if I can't actually go with you." I said. "Besides, I survived the Covenant War. If I can live through that, I can live through anything."

"Right…" She then began to mutter to herself, speaking so fast I couldn't make out anything she was saying. She then snapped her fingers into pointing up, like she'd had an idea. "But if the Abyssals come here, you might die! So I'll be your bodyguard!"

I graced her with a particularly flat look. "I'm an ODST. I don't really need a bodyguard." I deadpanned. Hood began to violently shake her head, so much that I put a hand on it so she wouldn't give herself whiplash.

Shipgirls can get whiplash, right?

"Yeah, but these Abyssals are different aliens! So I'm gonna keep you safe from them!" Oh, god, that's obsession I hear. If I'm not careful, she'll lock me in a room somewhere.

Very, very carefully, I considered my words. "Fine. You can be my bodyguard." Her eyes lit up, but I raised my hand. "But only when we're on base, and you can't deny anyone from seeing me. That's Ooyodo's job, and no you can't have it. Also, no threatening the other shipgirls, capiche?" She started nodding really fast. So I replaced my hand. She was giving me the shiny eyes beneath her messed up hair, and inwardly I hoped I hadn't made a mistake.

"You can count on me, Admiral!" She saluted, before ducking out of my grip and running off to the armory. I stood there, slowly turned around, and de-assed the area.

Vodka sounds like a good thing to try right now. I think I'll hit up Hibiki for some.

* * *

A disturbingly large bottle of pure COMЯADE-grade vodka was now sitting on my desk. I had been drinking it as I went through mission targets, and had selected one a third of the way through the bottle. Of course, I was suspecting I had drank a little too much earlier in life, since even that was only giving me a slight buzz.

Today's target would be a permanent installation, on a asteroid in Subsector Alpha. Orders were destroy as necessary, danger close. I casually mentioned to R&D that it would be nice if Texas's Wave Motion Gun (I am _not_ calling it a Shipgirl Laser) could be improved and replicated. I think they responded by calling it a Shipgirl Laser, and yes, which led to an argument over naming conventions before compromising and naming it the Particle Accelerator.

Somewhat better, but I digress.

Texas has been designated flagship for this operation, since she has the aforementioned Particle Accelerator. I'm also deploying Akashi for field repairs, with orders for her to stay out of the fight, and the Ashford class to look after her. She has no combat weapons, so she's basically a sitting duck if she gets caught up in the Rap- combat. As a test to her wanting to do this body guard job, I told Hood that, under no uncertain terms, she was going, and to leave the DMR behind. She nodded, put it down, and lifted off with the rest of the fleet, though I caught her glancing back at me as they headed out into the sector.

That done, I returned to my bottle.

* * *

I sat in my office, absently reading something on my terminal. Then fell asleep in my chair, snoring rather loudly according to what Ooyodo told me later, and quite unladylike.

She didn't really understand why I walked off laughing my ass off from that comment.

I then woke up later, to the sound of my door opening and something being tossed onto my chest. Something heavy.

I looked down. A small girl with tentacles sprouting from her back looked back up at me in petulance, sticking her lower lip out and pouting.

I looked up. Texas, Hood, Bismarck, Kongo, and Yamato were standing in front of my desk, each of them sporting disturbingly wide and eager grins. Glancing back down, I noticed the distinct smudge marks of shipgirl round impacts, and even a smear, probably from the Particle Accelerator, all over the Abyssal.

Sighing, I reached for the vodka bottle again.

* * *

 **The Rant**

 **No, I am not naming the Wave Motion Gun the Shipgirl Laser. I hold myself to a higher creative standard than that. *Quietly hides clipboard of copy/pastes***

 **Off topic, somewhat, but why does reality TV have writers? It's supposed to be actual events, that shit ain't scripted. Usually. *cough cough 2018 nfl cough***

 **And why doesn't FanFiction let me write a . EXE _correctly?_**

 **One of the things KanColle does is make you want to learn naval history, and there's some interesting stuff to learn. One of the things Halo does is make you want to learn it's lore (which has an EU that _wasn't_ retconned into nonexistence, looking at you, Disney), and there's also interesting shit to learn there.**

 **For example: A Standard MAC fires 600 ton slugs of ferric tungsten/depleted uranium at 4% the speed of light. The speed of light in a vacuum is 299,792,458 m/s. 4% of this is 11,991,698.32 m/s (which is VERY VERY fast). If the weight of 600 tons is correct (544311kg), then the kinetic energy of one of these pieces of metal (Using E = (m * v2 ) /2 ) is 3.91 x 1019 Joules. This is equivalent to 9362 Megatons of TNT, or 187 TSAR Bomba Nukes. So if this hit anything, it would vaporize it.**

 **The wonders of fiction.**

 **Also, I retook the Sue test with more up-to-date answers (I.e., based on chapters I have written at the time of posting) and got an 8. Which means Aqua has a very low chance of being a Sue.**

 **Yay?... My luck is absolute shit, so now I'm just gonna be even more paranoid.**


	9. Story-Wide Update

This is not a chapter, this only applies for when this is written, basically.

I'm going to lay out some things for this update, and ask some questions.

First off, I'm putting out a request: Story Art. If you want to draw up your own cover image for any of the stories, go ahead. I'm using stock images mostly (though the art for Courier's Road is a teaser image.), and I'd like something with more flavor to it. Hit me up if you wish to submit an image for evaluation.

Second, update scheduling. UNSC and RE: Project RWBY will keep their schedules, and I'm thinking I'll alternate Project RWBY and Fallout: New Vegas when I finally get to updating that. So it'd be UNSC every first, third, fifth Monday, New Vegas Friday that week, and RWBY on alternating weeks.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who reads my work, even if you don't follow, favorite or review. I do this for you, and I strive to improve myself constantly to deliver a better story to you. To those who review to offer criticism, you're awesome for helping me find my flaws and become a better writer. To those who follow and/or favorite, I am honored to know you think my work is worth it, and can not thank you enough.

Thank you. Insert witty parting line here.

The Pyro Jawsome.


	10. Admiral's Log- Day 9: Double Up or Quit

**I've got all this blood and nothing to use it for.**

 **Well, maybe it'll be the new mermaid bones.**

 **Have an early chapter. You may or may not have earned it.**

* * *

 **The Review Box:**

 **MarauderPrime12:** **Of the chapter, or of the Rant?**

 **Of the chapter, Aqua fell asleep waiting, and then woke up to five shipgirls trying to take credit for the Installation type they just tossed on her.**

 **Of the Rant, I took the Sue test when I wrote the pre-chapter, then took it again before I posted the chapter. The results changed, and since it's a chance, not a sure thing, I'm being paranoid my shit luck is going to screw me over in terms of writing a Sue without knowing (as it tends to do).**

 **And thank you.**

 **AmythestPone:** **Yep, those are the pre-War MAC specs.**

 **I theorized the Series 8 MAC to be somewhere above pre-War battleship MACs (Halo-verse doesn't really have battleships, but a battleship is basically a scaled-up cruiser with more gun on it, so it's ostensibly a bigger carrier, equaling a larger MAC) and SMACs. The standard frigate, cruiser, carrier, battleship, and such MACs has been upgraded to reach 4% lightspeed at minimum (i.e. frigates) thanks to Covenant and Forerunner tech research, so, yep. I put it at somewhere north of 20%, to be honest. Post-war SMACs can probably hit 35 or higher. The shell size and composition remains the same, though.**

 **Was Halo 5 good? I thought 4 was okay, but nothing is better than Reach and 3.**

 **Captiosus: Oh yeah, I think I had the wrong math.**

 **Whoops.**

 **War Historian-Freedom2134: *grabs notepad* Do tell.**

 **(after a PM) *frantic scribbling***

 **Uhhh, even with the presumably technological advances made post-Covenant, that is really stretching it. A second Infinity is easier (and in the pipeline) because the resource requirements are mapped out, but this...**

 **Uh, this would actually be Yamato. Built more for dick-waving than combat.**

 **The glassing, I don't see happening (remember, humanity was on the receiving end of it). Eight SMACs on a ship would require more energy than Sol (or an average sized main sequence star) currently outputs (a fuckton), since SMACs have _whole planetside power plants_ slaved to them, and double the weapons would mean it's ammo expenses would be somewhere in the ballpark of 16 quintillion, at _least_.**

 **Carrying new ships is what Infinity and her sister already do, and the idea is great (which is why I plan to have more ships that can carry other ships, but on a smaller scale), but it's also a resource drain- it costs more to build a frigate/cruiser wing than even a Saber squadron.**

 **The idea is cool, just a little resource unfeasible. But hey, I'll see if I can tweak it into something workable.**

 **Thanks for the suggestion anyways!**

* * *

 **Thanks to Fierce Striker, D1NGORED, War Historian-Freedom2134(long name), Halfgreave, Raider5000, and gravitywells for the follow/favorite(s).**

* * *

 _Journal of Admiral Steele; January 9, 2558_

I began today with tentacles wrapped around me and an Abyssal buried in my chest. Thankfully, when it became apparent I was awake, she unwrapped herself from me and let me go about my wake-up.

With a cheerful 'Good morning, Admiral' and a sunny smile.

Christ.

I sent a message to Phoenix asking about maybe communicating with the Abyssals, since we'd captured one that could speak. They promptly called on my video relay, which I answered with our new guest sitting on my lap. The three Abyssals we'd already captured were on the other end, with the humanoid one holding onto what they were calling on.

"I! Ro! Ho! So that's where you went!" The girl exclaimed. One of them chittered back. "Don't give me that 'I got overpowered, Iso' crap! They went after me, and they had lasers!" More chittering. "I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT!"

"I am reminded of talking to incompetent commanders." I muttered, watching the show go on. The Abyssal in my lap was now having a shouting match with the light carrier, who I think was Ho. "Iso, huh?

"Eeep!" 'Iso' was reminded of my presence as I spoke up, Ho giving me a wave on the viewscreen. "Er… yeah. Isolated Asteroid Princess. I'm the lonely Installation-type. So they designated me that and sent me out there." She said, poking her fingers together.

"...whoever you work for sounds incredibly creative." I settled for deadpanning. "So, you can understand the nonsense they say?"

"Yeah. Can't you?" She seemed pretty surprised, though I suppose it's because they can understand us.

"My translator program hasn't had the Abyssal patch installed yet." I snarked. "I think my real hang up is that you guys act like territorial eldritch abominations."

"El- what?" I dropped my face into my palm.

"Moving on…"

* * *

Isolated Asteroid Princess (or Iso, as she preferred to be called, which was understandable) was forthcoming in information, but not quite knowledgeable. For one, she didn't know where the main Abyssal base was. She was also rather innocent, as innocent as you can get as one of the things, I guess.

Those tentacles for one? Not for any hentai jokes, but for latching onto an asteroid to convert it into an outpost.

After an interrogation disguised as a conversation, I sent her off, forwarded the intel to HIGHCOM and Phoenix, and went off to find something to do.

* * *

I took a walk. It was a nice walk. I saw the sights, space, more space, the planet below us I sometimes forget is there, Kongo leaping at me at 3:00…

Duck.

There was a rather loud _SLAM!_ once she hit the window, but I wasn't too worried. Fibrosteel-reinforced glass was real tough to break. You had to pretty much set off a bomb. And there's emergency depressurization sealants anyways. About the only thing that would really happen would be Kongo would have to fly back around and I'd have to look into fixing it.

Although getting jumped by a battleship is starting to get old.

* * *

Today's sortie is into Subsector Bravo, some recon from, say, carriers, while the heavy hitters go back through Subsector Alpha and clean up somewhat. Iso mentioned being the only Installation-type in the area. But she did mention some heavier marauding types. Heavy cruisers, frigates, maybe even a mythical _battleship_. Capture if possible, otherwise kill. Recon is only engage if spotted, and book it back once pursuit is dropped.

I think I might be giving Phoenix too much of a good thing. If I call and find the eggheads ass-deep in orgasm, I'm ringing HIGHCOM and requesting an inquisition.

The fleet left soon enough, and I was stuck on a space station with nothing to do but wait. Again.

I had a solution to my problem, of course. Video games. To be specific, Stardew Valley. If anything it was almost like running this place. Minus the fact that there ain't no male parts round here, and it's a game about farming in a small town, not running a highly-classified science experiment being used to combat an alien race _not even ten years_ after almost getting xenocided by a fucking cult.

Zealotry is bad, m'kay.

Needless to say, when I looked back up, the fleet was due back. I headed down to the launch area to hear the news.

Alpha Squadron came back with some fun to their names, and four new Abyssal types. While two were cruisers, and one was a frigate, the real interesting one was the carrier struggling against the bonds slightly.

"Amie!" I heard Iso call from behind me. Both my and the fleet's eyes zeroed in on the Abyssal as she ran up to the carrier type.

"Hello, Iso." 'Amie' sighed. Her voice, like Iso's, had a grating edge to it, but _un_ like Iso's, hers sounded more mature. "They got you too, huh?"

"Yeah." She started pouting again. "I _liked_ that asteroid too."

I ignored the _squee_ coming from various shipgirls, and went to go interrogate 'Amie'.

"So going by Iso being Isolated Asteroid, I'm presuming 'Amie' is a nickname?" I asked. She made a face.

"Yes. Armored Carrier Princess."

"Admiral Aqua Steele. I'm the caretaker of this operation, and yes I _meant what I said!_ " I responded to the indignation my 'caretaker' comment had kicked up. "You drive me to drink on a daily basis!"

"Harsh, but true." I heard someone say.

Amie stared at me for a second. "I offer you the deepest of sympathy."

* * *

Tonight everyone on base has been called to the now completed not-bar, which I've been completely ignoring recently (common problem), for the opening/excuse to drink ceremony.

I call it how I see it, that's the way my mind works.

Houshou had really pulled out all the stops. She'd even dragged the R&D ships here, with Akashi grumbling about upgrades needing to be tested, Luna taking the excuse to wear a form-fitting dress under her coat (well, _even more_ form-fitting... _somehow_ ), and Aether hiding in a corner with a laptop.

It was kind of loud, what with all the destroyers there yakking it up. I was starting to wonder if I'd be able to hear myself think when the sound of someone tapping a mic cut through the wall of noise.

"Ahem, attention, test one two." A shipgirl I hadn't seen yet spoke into the microphone. "Hey everyone! I'm Naka, the new idol of the fleet!" I raised my eyebrow. That hadn't been brought up either. "W-well, once the paperwork clears anyways. She finished, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck.

"But I'm here to provide some music for the opening of!... Of…. Name?"

"Houshou's Not-Bar!" Arkansas called from her table.

"The Not-Bar! Here we go!" Then some club music came over the radio. And not that crap that all sounds the same. I'm talking smooth lounge, the kind where you imagine a room full of cigar smoke and pool tables.

When Naka started singing, she actually fit the music well. I figured from her voice that she'd be off-pitch, but she did a deep, relaxing voice surprisingly well.

"Hmmm." I mused as I sat back, glass of whiskey in my hand. "She is quite good… I suppose she can have the 'fleet idol' job. I don't think anyone else was asking." Beside me, Hood snickered.

"Hey, there, Steele." A bottle was thunked onto the table in front of me, followed by a… Italian heavy cruiser. The bottle held a gallon of wine.

"So I heard you drink a lot, eh?" The cruiser said as she pulled out two glasses, pouring wine into them, then sliding one towards me. "Well, I'm Pola, and I take my title of hardest drinker _seriously_."

"Really?" I asked. "With that weak _grape juice_? I trained my liver on Malekgolo blood, that's barely going to do _shit_." Pola only smirked as she raised her glass at me. "But hey, you wanna be fleeced, your head." I drained my whiskey glass, then grabbed the offered poison. We clinked glasses, and drained them like shots, glasses thumping the table at the same time.

"Marsala. Interesting try." I said, to Pola's knowing grin.

"I think I like you." The self-proclaimed booze-hound said as she tapped her refilled glass against mine.

" _No need, to be fu-nny..._ " Naka sang as the night drew on.

* * *

"And she thought she could out-drink me." I laughed.

"Well, she tried." Hood shrugged as we walked back to my quarters. Though Pola had put up an admirable (heh) effort, I had had to pull her out of the not-bar so she wouldn't drown in a pool of drool after she'd passed out into a drunken torpor. Dropping her off in the medbay to sleep it off, Hood had insisted upon walking me to my room before she either returned to the party or went to bed herself.

It was nice, walking along the artificially beautified station, but seeing the lights dim in accordance with Terran day cycles was a nice touch. Only the best for the UNSC. The stars shone above us as light reflecting off Formante's moon from Alpha Scorpii gently illuminated our path… and the blonde battlecruiser walking beside me. She was rather… cute, if in a mature way. She tended to quirk the right side of her mouth up when she was near me, and she seemed more at ease by my side now than when I had seen her earlier. As we came to my quarters, I thanked her for walking with me.

"It's no problem Admiral." She replied. "I'm only doing what a bodyguard would do."

"Well, I know any important person back home wouldn't object to having you as a bodyguard." I replied. Then I leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, smirking as I watched her face color. "I know for a fact you're prettier and more skilled than any for-hire out there. Goodnight." And I walked into my room.

* * *

 **I believe I prefer the taste of Jack Daniels to Kahlua. And my liquor not quite as sweet as that.**

 **Alpha Scorpii is a real star. It's the fifteenth brightest star in the sky, and the brightest star in the Scorpio constellation, which, coincidentally, is rather close to the Sol system in the Orion Arm. It's also larger in diameter than Mars' orbit. Incidentally, it's also binary. So some StarFax™ being dropped on you all.**

 **Today was kind of easy to start, but not finish. I probably spent the majority of my time on the middle and end, after learning Iso's name.**

 **For a bit I was thinking I had my dates confused, but then I checked the Halo timeline and figured out I had them correct. For one, the 'seven years' line in chapter 4 I thought was wrong, but Aqua's 20 now, and since the Covenant War would have been going on for twenty-five years at that point, and the UNSC was starting to get desperate, she was fast-tracked into the Marines. Meanwhile, Terra-B312 was recruited into the SPARTAN III program at the same time, likely what lead to her being fast-tracked, since she didn't make the SPARTAN cut, but was related to someone who did. Probably the only time ONI wasn't a bag of shit in my backstory. Though 13 isn't 'child soldier', it's still rather young to have seen active service, so anyone younger than 15 was held back until they were somewhat older. Remember, humanity had more planets than just Earth, there were over 150 billion humans by the time Harvest happened. Hence why space colonization is a good solution to overpopulation. Hell, even if we just colonized the Sol System we'd have more living space. Well, the gas planets might be hard, but space stations. Halo 5 does not exist, and Halo 4 hasn't happened yet.**

 **Please direct any whiny comments on how 'that's not how colonization works' to my inbox, where they may or may not be debated/ignored. (Hint: if you call me stupid or something from the Book of Victimhood Accusing™, it's ignored. If you present an actual argument, it's debated.)**

 **On a different note, I finally finished the first chapter of my third attempt of my first story, RE: Project RWBY. I posted it last Friday. Give it a look if your like my sense of humor.**

 **This chapter is posted on President's Day, AKA the birthday of the greatest 'Merican to ever live, George Washington. Interesting thing about him, it's actually illegal to outrank Washington in the US Military. He's the only Six-star General in the command structure. He does not, however, hold a Naval rank, since the Navy didn't exist until after he stepped down from Presidency, but you still can't outrank him.**

 **'Merica.**

 **Now excuse me, I have a singularity to sort out.**


	11. Admiral's Log- Day 10: Kinetic Energetic

**You're considered legally drunk at .08% BAC. Imagine if you had more than that. _Your blood would be alcohol_ at 100%, though you'd be long dead by then (lethal is considered .35-.40%). The most I've heard of in a drink is 96% by volume, which is pretty extreme, but that doesnt translate to BAC. Now, since Aqua is a 175 pound female, if she were to drink a six pack of that over an hour, she'd only be at a 3.34% BAC. It'd take 18 to get her to at least 10%. Of course, alien _blood_ is some hardcore shit, as I replied to a review once upon a time.**

 **Now somewhat tangentially related to alcohol is Dwarf Fortress, which I referenced in the pre-chapter last time. Mermaid bone farming was an actual thing at some point in that game's development (there was a hilarious thread about it on Bay 12 entitled 'Chasing the Elusive Mermaid') where, for whatever reason, mermaid bone items were worth a large sum of money.**

 **So Bay 12, being Bay 12, set about designing a mermaid farm involving breeding and air drowning children. As a matter of fact, here's two quotes describing the whole laughfest.**

 **"This is quite possibly the most extraordinary thread I have ever seen."**

 **"'The amount of malice in this thread is actually causing me some concern. I mean, chaining up mothers and forcing them to breed, just so we can drown their children to harvest their organs? Does this strike no one else as absolutely horrific?'**

 **You misspelled 'hilarious'"**

 **As a matter of fact, Bay 12 is a goldmine of hilarious out-of-context quotes. Just pull up a random thread (TV Tropes provides some great jumping-off points) and start reading user sigs. You'll be coughing up a lung in minutes.**

 **For example: "The closest thing Bay 12 has to a flame war is an argument over philosophy that slowly transitioned to an argument about quantum mechanics."**

 **It might also explain my morbid sense of humor, since everyone else ain't as used to casual mentions of horrific violence as I am.**

 **MarauderPrime12: Noticed, did you?**

 **Thanks to JammyONE and kokugatsu for the follow/favorite.**

* * *

 _Journal of Admiral Steele, January 10, 2558_

I got awoken rather rudely by the sound of sawing logs. And early too; 0400 hours.

The source turned out to be Hood, who was snoring loud enough to be heard through a steel door. _My_ steel door, which she was sat outside of. I left her there and went to the office.

On the way I passed by Ooyodo at her desk. Sure enough, she sleeps there. Facedown.

However, the usual pile of paperwork was still there. Well, queue of files- technology, after all.

Among them was Naka's 'fleet idol' request, R&D requesting a MAC round, and…

Hold on a second.

One does not just _ask_ for a 600 ton ferric tungsten/depleted uranium slug.

So I did. Learn not to question, and point the finger when questioned. First rule of Officer's Camp...

* * *

I was finishing breakfast when Hood re-entered the stage play my life was becoming. I saw her make to tackle me before holding herself back- my nose was still broken by Yuudachi- and instead sat down next to me.

"Admiral! Don't do that!" She snapped. "I woke up and you were gone, and you could have been kidnapped, or attacked, or-"

"ODST, remember?" I replied. "Besides, I'm always armed."

"With a _pistol_." Hey, some swear by the thing. But I suppose I should demonstrate.

"Scooch over a bit, would you?" I asked. When the battlecruiser complied, I drew my energy sword.

"I see your point." Hood squeaked.

"I'll say!" Tenryuu appeared in front of me, visible eye shining. "That's _fucking awesome_!"

"Yeah, and you can fight a Sangheili for one." I cheerfully replied.

"Orrrrr, I could study and replicate it?" Luna purred, stroking my arm.

"I took this thing out to make a point, not be the center of attention." I complained. Then I deactivated the sword and handed it to Luna. "Fine, but if that thing comes back with a vibrate function, I'm shoving it into a _very_ uncomfortable place."

"Fair enough." The scientist said, slowly reaching for it, and _coincidentally_ giving me a view down the tight, low cut blouse she was wearing. I merely gave her an unamused look. Though I spotted Tenryuu and Hood giving her looks as well. Of jealousy?

"God, my life is becoming a fucking drama." I groaned in despair.

* * *

"So I found this game, and oh my god is is _addicting_." I overheard Akizuki say as she and her two sisters entered the not-bar. I was sitting at the actual bar, drinking away the realization my life was a terrible sitcom, and only hearing her out of half an ear.

"So why are we here to play it? We have consoles in our dorm!" One of her sisters- Teruzuki, I think- responded.

"Because the Ashfords are on it, and I don't like a 6-on-3 fight's odds. And they have better armor."

"Yeah, I see. So, what's the game?"

"One second!" Akizuki chattered, navigating menus at a speed only practice or several doses of caffeine grants you. "Here!"

"Call of Duty: Black Ops?" Hatsuzuki read.

"Yeah, but that's not what I mean." Akizuki clicked through the menu.

"Zombies?" Her sister chorused.

"Yup! Survive as long as you can!"

I wandered over as Akizuki began a game to show her sisters how it worked. She started a game of Kino der Toten, aka the map everyone plays because it's on-disc and not 'Five'.

She died on Round 4.

"No! Dammit!" She swore. I stepped up as she put the controller down and pouted.

"Mind if I show you how it's done?" I said with an amused smirk. She gasped in surprise, her and her sisters shooting into salutes.

"Admiral!"

"At ease, kids." I chuckled. "Didn't I say I don't really care? Besides," I cracked my knuckles as I picked up the controller. "I'm an old hand here. Allow the master to show you how it's done." I started another game.

"What's that?" Teruzuki asked as I spent my starting money on a drink of soda.

"Quick Revive. Gives me a second chance." I said. I took aim at a zombie, finger blurring on the trigger as I blasted the full clip into it's leg, then knifed it to death.

"Wait, you can do that?" Akizuki questioned.

"Yeah. It's kinda intuitive." I said. I began to move deeper into the theatre, moving towards the dressing rooms.

"Wait." Hatsuzuki pointed at the dark Speed Cola. "Why's that one dark, but Quick Revive is lit up?"

"You get three mercy Revives in solo." I explained. "They don't require power, but the real perks do. Like so." I flipped the power switch, turning on the power to the place. The girls jumped as they heard the howling of Novas.

"What was that?"

"Nova Crawlers." I frowned. "You will learn to hate those things." I connected the teleporter to Pack-A-Punch, but didn't use it. Instead I went back into the theater area and grabbed a Bowie Knife and a drink of Juggernog. "This perk here, this is the most important." I said, pointing at the perk emblem on the HUD. "It keeps you going longer." I hung out in the theater a little longer, grinding points from the zombies and Novas, training in a circle before opening up with the MP40 I'd bought on the way to power.

"Whoa! You're good!" Teruzuki said as I took a sip of Speed. I began to whistle the Speed Cola jingle as I rerouted to the other side of the map, opening the door to the support room and side alley.

"Practice." I said, checking the round. 7. The dogs hadn't come out to play yet, but…

"There we go." I muttered as the fog descended over the map, the call of 'FETCH ME THEIR SOULS!' heralding the arrival of fiery dog death.

"AH! What's that?" Hatsuzuki pointed at a hound.

"Hellhounds." I grunted as the dog leapt at me only to get a knife to the face. "But at least they drop a Max Ammo."

I continued on in silence aside from the occasional grunt as I chugged down Double Tap, then beelined for the teleporter.

"Punch your fist into the air and raise a rebel yell~. There's lotsa bad'uns out there, ya need to send to hell~!" I sang along as I pulled my two little friends, Mustang and Sally from the machine.

"What's so special about them? You just got another gun and a color scheme on them." Akizuki asked.

"Watch, and say hello to my little friends." I said. I waited in the theater for a horde, then fired once.

"Whoa!" All three watched the grenade decimate a good chunk, before paling as more rushed me.

"Now, allow me to show you something." I said, running like hell. I stopped off back in the foyer to look at a red rock. I activated it, hearing the confirmation noise and then booking it to the dressing room. I repeated it there, then ran to support for the last.

"What?" Hatsuzuki asked as the first notes of 115 began to blast out. I smirked.

"No one can see me, and I've lost all feeling, but I know I won't die alone~." I sang along. "Or stop you from breathing, and all your deceiving, and this night, is not my own~!" I unloaded upon the horde, 9x19 Parabellum popping heads left and right.

"This is awesome!" Akizuki crowed. I merely grinned, continuing on until I downed.

"Well, that's how it's done." I allowed myself to die, on round 28.

"Can we play too?" All three asked.

"Yeah, sure." They all connected a controller, and we played for the rest of the hour. Highlights include me reviving all three while being chased by a horde, Akizuki managing to hold out for a whole round without downing, and Teruzuki scoring ten headshots in a row.

It was fun.

* * *

An hour later and I was back in my office, designating targets in Bravo subsector. Alpha was pretty much entirely abandoned with Iso and Amie out of the picture, but we'd have to keep an eye on it. The Covenant hit Harvest twice before they glassed it, and it's the closest subsector spatially, so I'm taking no chances.

I did some unusual task mastering with this one. I held back Hood, and designated Ashford flagship. I wanted to test the fleet's flexibility, and also train Hood some, since she was serious about the whole bodyguard bit.

The battlecruiser stood beside me as the fleet departed, then turned and followed as we made our way to the most trafficked location on base; the range.

Well, most trafficked besides the dorms and mess hall.

I started by coaching her on hand-to-hand and melee skills. While she technically couldn't be disarmed, what she was permanently armed with were ship-caliber weapons, and an Archer pod salvo wasn't an optimal solution for someone attacking me unless they were a particularly tough Abyssal. Plus with her strength, she could easily benefit should she run out of ammo (though, thankfully the shipgirls seemed to understand implicitly the concept of 'ammo conservation'.)

Energy swords, meanwhile, are still goddamn kickass.

I then moved on to the ballistic weapons she'd be hanging onto, giving her a choice between having an MA5D assault rifle, BR85N battle rifle, M395B DMR, or M45D shotgun. She chose the shotgun.

So I gave her a rifle course to run.

No, no, it was a shotgun course. I was just screwing with you. Unredacted jokes for the asswipes reading this without permission (you know who you are) aside, she did quite well.

I sighed, mentally preparing myself for the worst part.

"Alright, now for the real fun part." I told her. She was panting somewhat from the exertion, but unlike most, she wasn't laid out entirely.

"Diplomatic training."

"What? I must have, _pant_ , misheard you, _huff_. Could have sworn, _huh_ , you said diplomatic?" She replied.

"Yes." I grimaced. "I hated it too. In between time on the front lines and the bureaucrats that aren't likable, more than once I nearly decked someone out their window. But unfortunately, you get to do it too. Standard UNSC protocol."

" _Why?!_ "

"Because those of rank Colonel and above get to speak to the masses." I deadpanned. "And as a bodyguard to an Admiral, you are, technically, being promoted beyond that. Ooyodo had to take that training to be my secretary, I had to do it when I hit Colonel too. Well, once the war was over, and I was Admiral by that point..." I trailed off. "Point is, it's fucking stupid, but we gotta do it."

Hood sighed. "Fiiiiiineee…"

* * *

Several hours later, Hood finally matched up with the requirements, allowing us to book it for the mess. After getting food, we somehow managed to find a place to sit. The place was crowded with shipgirls now, and though the hall was rated for ten thousand plus grunts, somehow a few dozen shipgirls made the place feel like a sold out concert.

The typical noise level didn't help either.

Either way I just ate as fast as possible and left. It doesn't bother me that much, but seven years of eating as fast as possible because you don't know when a plasma shot's going to be coming for your head just ingrains the habit into you.

The others also had metric pounds of food that I did not. So I had that going for me too.

* * *

Research & Development was my next destination. Akashi met me at the door, but I could hear both Luna and Aether celebrating deeper in the place.

"You caught us at a good time." Akashi winked at me. "We figured it out."

"So long as Luna isn't molesting Aether and _my sword_ still works." I intoned. "I may be freewheeling, but I could still kick your asses." Akashi raised her eyebrow.

"Uh-huh." She said, slowly.

"Sword?" I gestured. She allowed me in.

Thankfully Luna was _not_ molesting Aether. The shouting was because there on the table…

….was a sword hilt.

"... is that it." I deadpanned. Aether shook her head, sending her braid flying around her like a crashing Banshee.

"Nope! Watch!" She grabbed it and pushed a button.

"I see now." I whistled as the blade snapped into existence with the same _ksshh_ as my energy sword. However, the blade was shaped like a typical katana instead of… whatever the Sangheili shaped their swords like.

"Yeah. Tenryuu requested it after she saw yours." Luna pointed out. "So we shaped it like hers so she wouldn't have to learn a whole new fighting style."

" _Do you have any_ idea _how hard it is to align a plasma stabilization and containment field so that it is slightly curved_?" Akashi asked, with a spark of madness within her eye.

"As hard as reverse-engineering alien technology to get armor shields." I responded. Akashi opened her mouth. "I watched the engies foam at the mouth to figure out the shield generators for the _Infinity_ , I know what I say." She closed it.

"Be that as it may," Luna cut in. "Could you call your girlfriend in, please?"

"Y- excuse me?" I asked, deliberately keeping my face blank.

"You heard me." The science ship replied, equally as emotionless. Slowly, I raised my hand.

"Tenryuu." I enunciated into my communicator. "Could you come to R&D real quick? _Thaaanks_."

* * *

"You rang, Admiral?" Tenryuu poke her head into the room a few minutes later. I tossed the sword hilt at her.

"Here." Me and Luna were still staring each other down.

"What's this?" Tenryuu asked, fiddling with it for a moment. Then it activated.

I'm _fairly_ certain the sound she made wasn't measurable on the human hearing scale. Or volume register. While I didn't hear it (and had the foresight to brace), Luna got tossed into the wall, her hands clamped to her ears, while Akashi and Aether desperately held headphones over theirs.

"This is so _awe-he-he-some_!" The light cruiser squealed as she swung the blade around like it was weightless- which it kind of was, since that hilt is the only solid part of the thing and it was easy to lift for me. Wonders of plasma, eh?

"Glad you like it." I said. I left Akashi and Aether to help Luna out of the wall, grabbing my energy sword along the way.

At least she didn't stick a vibrate function in there.

* * *

The ' _eeeeeeee_ ' sound that Tenryuu had been making since we'd left to the melee arena was still steadily rising in volume, though lowering in pitch at least, if I could hear it now.

"Tenryuu, could you please stop?" I asked. "You're only just now reaching the top of my audible pitch scale, and you're getting louder."

"Sorry, but it's just…!" She tackled me from behind (thankfully without much force, and without her new sword in her hands) and clung to me as she tried- keyword- to muffle the noise.

"My back does not make an effective dampener." I deadpanned, ignoring everything about the hug, _especially_ the hands.

"You have no idea how much I love you right now." The light cruiser hadn't moved.

"I'm getting a _quite extensive_ idea." I replied testily. Then grabbed a wrist that was guiding a particularly curious hand. " _Go below the belt and lose the hand_."

"Got it!" Tenryuu was then five feet away in front of me, hands in the air.

"Clever girl." I withdrew my own sword. "Now, let's see just how clever you are, hm?" The plasma blade flared to life.

"Thought you'd never ask." Tenryuu's smirk matched my own as her blade formed in front of her.

* * *

Fighting a katana with a Sangheili blade was pretty much just like dueling with any other energy sword-wielder. The interdiction field between the twin points of the blade kept Tenryuu's energy katana out, and she was swift-fingered enough to keep my marauding blade away from her hilt. But she was pretty freakin fast when she wanted to be.

A stab was countered, a thrust was barely parried, and two sweeping cuts slammed into each other. I had to dodge way too many close calls, and did lose some hair to a quick slash.

But I got one over her. I turned my sword off.

When she charged in for the kill, I dodged inside her swing, dropped my sword into my left hand, and held it out, the reignited points hovering over the small of her back.

"Mercy?" I asked nonchalantly. She tensed, then sighed, deactivating her blade. "Thought so."

"Yeah, but you totally cheated!" She complained.

I just laughed. "Pragmatism is what's kept me alive for seven years. Reason before Honor." The cruiser steamed a little longer, before sighing.

"Fair enough. Flippin'cheatin… luckyshe'ssocute…" I merely smirked as she grumbled.

"It's not cheating if it works."

"Is too!"

* * *

 **The Rant**

 **I would like it to be known that, yes, that is exactly how I play Kino (I even played a game to model the one I wrote), and yes, it infuriates me to see/play with noobs. I overall don't care, since I'm still somewhat of a noob myself (I'm only now hitting 15+ consistently) and am aware that there are far better people out there, but still, sometimes... Look up some solo world records on ZombieRecords to see what I mean. People literally play for _days._ I stop at a half hour, maybe.**

 **Yes, Aqua's life is slowly becoming a sitcom/harem anime. No, I do not regret it. I'm busy laughing my ass off at fucking over an alternate universe version of me. I lost count of how many there are anyways- multiverse is infinite, y'know. I'll be completely honest, I wasn't planning on including Luna in the polygon, but then KC sent me their Luna personality, so she's in now. Because it's entirely in character.**

 **MAC rounds (i.e. standard ship MAC) rounds are actually 600 tons of ferric tungsten/depleted uranium. That's the stuff that was floated for an actual orbital bombardment platform/used to armor M1 Abrams tanks. For the record, a standard ship-based MAC fires these slugs of either ferric Tungsten or depleted Uranium and approximately 9.1 meters long at around 30,000 meters per second. The high muzzle speed gives the 600-ton slug the kinetic energy and momentum necessary to damage a target and partially mitigates the unguided nature of the slug and its lack of maneuverability; once the round leaves the barrel it's trajectory essentially a straight line and cannot reorient it's direction. Orbital Defense Platform MACs fire a 3,000-ton slug at four-hundredths, or 4% of the speed of light, around 12,000 kilometers per second. Unlike explosive artillery rounds or missiles and energy weapons, the destructive force of the MAC round is via kinetic energy on impact. That is straight from Halo Nation. I recently drove myself to insanity attempting to figure out what the Series 8 MAC on the** _ **Infinity**_ **fires on a video discussing whether or not Infinity would win in a fight against the First Order's dreadnought. It would, because that movie was a crappier version of** _ **Empire Strikes Back**_ **.**

 **Enough nerdery.**

 **Being a bodyguard, especially for an important figure (see: Secret Service) isn't a walk in the park. People do crazy shit when there are famous people about. Don't ask me why, I just shrug and go about my life.**

 **Yes, she does have that going for her. I regret nothing.**

 **I imagine that people were wondering if Tenryuu would get an energy sword after the Particle Accelerator thing, and I do oblige if you did. If you** _ **didn't**_ **, fuck you, energy sword.**

 **It's true, honor has gotten people killed. And lost battles. And wars. Always be practical. And I mean take the smart choice, not bomb an orphanage, Jesus.**

 **I don't really like this chapter's title, but I really couldn't come up with a snappy name on the fly.**

 **Let There Be Rock. And Metal. Basically anything that's not most '10s pop.**


	12. Admiral's Log- Day 11: I get an AI Buddy

**The Review Box:**

 **KCNederland:** **To be honest, I subscribe to the 'they don't really need to learn skills cause they're ships' school of Magical Sparkly Shipgirl Bullshit (trademark). Besides, the differences between an actual sword and just swinging a projector around to someone who can literally bench-press a tank is minuscule.**

 **Tenryuu winning would make some form of sense, minus the fact that I explicitly said that Aqua picked up Plasma Sword combat techniques from the Sangheili, i.e. the race that made the damn things, who would know their way around swordplay with their own weapons. Tenryuu's training is in more of a 'typical Warriors-style game' combat style, while Sangheili fighting emphasizes different ranges and attacks from Samurai (presumably) teachings. Also, in terms of using the sword, she's maybe had a week, and even veterans will fall into the 'wide open' feint trap.**

 **I also wasn't entirely sure how to write the damn scene, but that's more a 'me' thing than not researching my stuff*eye twitch*.**

 **(one PM later): To your observation on the Energy Sword, it's designed off of Forerunner designs, and also made for Sangheili hands (three talon thingies), which is why it looks like that. Plus I added in the interdiction field line, since the whole 'straight path to the hand' bit would be ridiculous. Granted, it'd be hard to actually do, but still, it's rather stupid to have otherwise.**

 **Ender001:** **...I think you might be forgetting what exactly PR can do to an organization.**

 **And if your military is blowing up it's own citizens, it's either really falling down on the job, or is a tool of a totalitarian regime.**

 **By all means.**

* * *

 _Journal of Admiral Steele, January 11, 2558_

I swear, it feels like I've been here three months already, and it's only been about two weeks. I don't know whether to complain or not.

Eh, fuck it. I stopped caring forever ago.

Thankfully, I did not wake up with anything else in my bed besides me, a fact I relished, and when I usually wake up, something that was becoming, and would likely remain, less and less common. Hood had somehow gotten inside my bedroom, but instead of climbing in with me, had leaned herself in a chair next to the door.

Thankfully, she wasn't snoring. Though she looked like she was drowning herself in drool. Eh, she's probably fine. Goes out in space and all.

"Oy, Hood." I rapped the door frame above her head.

"Msnsmh… speeledwrong…" She muttered, turning her head and swallowing to mumble at me. Setting my face into an unamused scowl, I slammed her chair legs back to the floor, tossing her off.

That woke her up.

"Wake up, Buttercup. Got things to do." I deadpanned as the battlecruiser rubbed her ass.

"But couldn't you have let me sleep?" She whined. I raised my eyebrow.

"I did that yesterday and you almost tackled me in the mess hall." I pointed out. "So which is it, bodyguard?"

"Fine." She pouted.

"If it helps, drink caffeine. Though start small." I advised. She followed me like a sleepy puppy to the mess, where she became a disciple to the mug.

"How have I never had this before in my life?" She marveled as she held her poison aloft, the rays of God falling upon the blessed chalice with a backup heavenly chorus of nicely-proportioned female angels with assault rifles.

"You had sleep." I muttered. Then I reached up to feel my bangs. They were starting to get in my eyes, and the back was getting a little long, but hell if I was going to ask any shipgirl here to cut my hair. If they did it _wrong_ , I might be sans head, something I would rather avoid. If they did it _right_ , they might put it on a shrine to me and pray to it or something, which I would _also_ rather avoid.

I'm either dead wrong, or way too savvy.

* * *

" _Choo!_ "

"Bless you/Gesundheit/Amen." The gathered shipgirls chorused.

"Apologies." Yamato apologized with a small blush, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "Now where were we?"

And the shipgirls of Forward Operating Base Ascendant returned their awed gaze and fervent prayer to the candid image of their Admiral holding her sword to Tenryuu's spine, lit candles surrounding the shrine to her badassery.

* * *

Aw, shit, I just provoked Murphy.

The _last_ time I did that the end result was a Covenant fleet being destroyed in a super supernova. Hypernova? Really big-ass star explosion because I had to destabilize a planet's orbit and send it flying into its' star. With nukes.

Hey, Cole was crazy, I'm crazier.

"Though I bet he's laughing at me." I muttered around my coffee, now ensconced in my office. With Ooyodo on duty and Hood standing guard outside my door, I fully expected any visitors to be announced before they entered.

So I checked email.

Hmm, Phoenix sent. Okay, Abyssals are getting along fine… they're working on translation… Iso and Amie are being picked up today… and they're sending something special?

Okay.

I sighed. I hate it when people do that.

* * *

Absently, I reflected on how there hadn't been any new shipgirls recently. It was almost starting to feel like Phoenix was done with what they had summoned.

"But then, here we are." I finished my thought out loud. Hood side eyed me for a second, before shrugging it off. We were standing in the hangar.

The battlecruiser held her new shotgun, recently painted with the color scheme of the Union Jack, in a position where she appeared as non threatening as you could possibly be whilst holding a shotgun, but could sight and fire in seconds.

I forced my mind off the details like that and onto the opening door of the transport ship.

"Hey there, Admiral! USS Iowa, reporting for service!" A tall blonde with… ample fuel tanks greeted me energetically, saluting somewhat lazily. And that was certainly not a USN service uniform.

I suppose I should explain. See, all of the shipgirls I have wear either uniforms based off of their navies' (the Japanese destroyers), a school uniform (Tenryuu and Tatsuta), or dress uniforms (the UNSC ships). About the only exceptions are the stronger ships, like Yamato and Hood, though Yamato was going for a 'shrine priestess' look, and Hood had started wearing black vests over her old red coat.

Don't ask me why, I just wear whatever the hell when I don't have to wear my uniform.

Back to Iowa.

She had a blue-grey corset that only accentuated her fuel tanks and the subtle musculature of her stomach. A rather short skirt was connected to her leggings by straps. The leggings themselves were striped, red and white on one side, blue and white on the other, like the old American flag. Plopped atop her head was a cap that looked a little too angular to be a navy beret. And she had literal stars in her eyes- they're her pupils. A little unnerving.

"Enjoy the view?" Iowa smirked, drawing her left hand up her side a little.

"Amusing." I drawled. "But welcome to the fleet. Battleship dorms are over there." I pointed.

"Thank you! Cya around!" The battleship walked off, glancing back at me with a wink and…

"Is she purposely doing that." I flatly stated as she put a little extra bounce in her step.

"I think so." Hood stated just as flatly, though I detected jealous undertones.

The bottle is calling, but more shipgirls are here.

"Greetings, Admiral." The next shipgirl bowed respectfully. "Ark Royal. I hope to be of assistance in our mission."

"Hey, Ark." Hood waved.

"Ah, Hood. I see you arrived before me." Ark Royal greeted the battlecruiser.

On a closer look, the dress she was wearing was, like her hair, strictly to the sides and back. A large compound bow hung on her back, a quiver of fighter arrows, no doubt, at her side. Unlike Iowa, she acted with the grace of a Royal Navy ship.

Although I'm not entirely sure _what_ I was supposed to expect from Iowa. On the subject, an Iowa lookalike landed in front of me.

"What's up, New Jersey, ready for action!" New Jersey saluted.

She looked a lot like Iowa. Actually, she looked almost identical to Iowa, though with her corset being a dark green and blue instead of Iowa's blue-grey. Like her sister, I directed her to the battleship dorms.

"What did I miss?" Hood asked as Ark Royal walked off.

"New Jersey." I replied, already noticing two new Iowa clones entering.

Missouri has a yellowish-tan scheme, and Wisconsin had a white scheme. But the two were a little more demure that Iowa and New Jersey- sure they were casual, but they weren't as free-floating as their two sisters.

But it was the next ship that was the real focus of this shipgirl…. shipment.

"Hello. My name is Constitution. Please take care of me." The next shipgirl looked a lot different than any I'd seen up to that point. She was wearing a tricorn hat with a blue long coat. A dark blue ruffled shirt and brown leggings completed her ensemble.

"The USS Constitution?" I asked. "It's an honor to meet such a storied ship."

"Why thank you, Admiral." She smiled. Then she held out a crystal chip. "I was told to deliver this device to you at the soonest opportunity."

I took the chip, already expecting what came next.

"Hi there, Admiral Steele." A woman, colored black and gold, popped up from the chip's aperture. "HIGHCOM figures you'd need a smart AI to help you run things out here, so they sent me. Call me Equinox."

"Good meeting you, Equinox." I replied. "Ready to fight aliens with girls that are the spirits of ships?"

"Oh, is that all? I thought this was a strenuous assignment." Equinox smirked. I returned it.

"I think we are going to get along famously." I said, walking towards my office.

" _Oh god, there's two of them_ …" I heard Hood groan in despair behind me. Constitution just started laughing.

* * *

"This a common occurrence?" The new smart AI asked, watching me drink from the bottle.

"What, drinking?" I replied. "I've been doing _less_ than I expected to… Which is still, what, .20% BAC?"

"That's 2.5 times the legal intoxication rate. And near lethal quantities of alcohol." She noted.

"Don' care. My space station." I returned to drinking. "And I have a stupid high tolerance."

"That you do." Equinox deadpanned. "So, you've got a fleet, you've got me, and you've got a sortie to plan. Can I help?"

"What the hell." I shrugged. "Go hog."

"Oh, this is fun! No wonder Roland likes to be a part of ops!" The black and gold girl began to read holoscreens only she could read.

"Roland?" I asked.

" _Infinity_ 's onboard AI. Occasionally chips in on SPARTAN-IV ops." She absently answered.

"Oh, boy, more of the armored fucks." I moaned, draining a hearty amount of booze. "What now, more child soldiers? Fucking sex offenders? Psychosomatics?"

"Volunteers." She replied. "After the whole Parangosky debacle, UNSC and ONI figured it would be best to keep this iteration above-board. So if you want to, and are capable of being a SPARTAN-IV, you can be a SPARTAN-IV."

"Feh. ODSTs earned their crazy. We didn't get no fancy-schmancy armor first." I snorted.

"Alright, here's what I've got." Three large screens appeared before me, each with an image and details. "There's a squadron patrolling subsector Charlie with an Abyssal a lot like the Armored Carrier you captured a few days ago." The image was of a humanoid Abyssal with a tail leading a group of weaker ones.

"Amie." I muttered absently.

"Then there's an odd installation on these asteroids, tethered to each other, floating around in Bravo." Indeed there was. A big, fuck-off tentacle.

"And lastly, there's an Installation type, capital I, hanging around on this planet in Bravo as well." The image was a zoom shot of, yes, and Installation type. The planet itself was desert, nothing particularly missable. I considered my options.

"What's the fleet look like?" I asked.

"Discounting the non-combat ships, Ooyodo, the chefs, and the science ships, the fleet stands at several destroyers, two light cruisers, five carriers, a battlecruiser, and twelve battleships, Admiral." Equinox listed.

"Damn. Though I could get away with trying all three. Shit." I muttered to myself, calculating firepower and energy consumption and gauging the targets. "Split the fleet. Designate Texas flagship for one, and Tenryuu for the other. Texas's squad will engage the Installation type; standard capture if possible orders. Tenryuu's group will engage the mobile squadron, same orders."

"Alright." Equinox saluted. "Sending orders now. Anything else?"

"Weapons hot." I leaned back in my chair, grinning at the smart AI. "How did I get anything done without you?"

"Slowly." She returned my grin.

* * *

Once more I found myself on the range, though only after having fun with the PA system, which I had never used, and Equinox.

By that I mean she screwed around with it under the guise of 'learning', and I let her so I could laugh.

But this time I was just… sitting. You could call it meditation, except I don't really put stock in that zen shit.

I'm a woman of action, sue me.

Irregardless, Sangheili say that doing this 'connects one with their ancestors' or something. Or maybe it was something to do with the Forerunners.

I dunno, I only know the basics so I don't piss off an alien race that tried to kill all us puny humans.

So I sat in silence (increasingly rare) for about two hours.

I may have fallen asleep at some point.

* * *

Once the fleet returned, things got loud again.

Tenryuu's group had succeeded in capturing two new types and their leader. None were Installation types, and _still no translator patch_ , so all I got from them was 'growl, grr".

An enlightening conversation.

Tenryuu has put her energy katana to good use, as her report stated. No casualties, minus minor injuries that were easily fixed.

Texas's group had also pulled off their mission. The Installation type they'd been sent after, Southern Sector Princess ('South') had surrendered after a demonstration of the Particle Accelerator. Currently she was sitting in the medbay with the other Abyssals.

But the real focus of after-action was something the Japanese shipgirls had brought up after Akagi got out of med for burn damage.

Repair baths.

According to them (and backed up by Akashi), we could set up a sort of communal hot spring full of water with nanomachines floating around in it. The sample they showed me looked like steaming piss, but dunking Inazuma's burned hand in resulted in an undamaged hand being pulled out.

So it _works_ , it's just an odd request.

And of course, I had to requisition building materials. _Again_.

Sometimes, these shipgirls just… annoy me. Or just fill me with resignation.

So now I had Akashi, Luna and Aether designing a system for the water while I had the battleships constructing a frame, and I discussed finance with the smart AI on my desk.

This is what a _normal_ command is like, right?

No, I've pretty much just given up on normal. It doesn't exist anymore.

Now where's that whiskey…

* * *

As it turns out, the science girls have a _functional matter replicator_. Built it two days ago.

 _ **And they didn't fucking tell me.**_

Seriously?

I am threatening them with giving it over to some science division in the UNSC and not letting them have credit for it in exchange.

Christ.

* * *

"So is this a normal day for you?"

I glanced over at the smart AI's projection from my bed. Two empty liquor bottles sat on my desk, me trying to drown what felt like a squadrons' worth of irritated despair.

"Sort of." I replied. "The matter replicator was new. You too. The rest of it was normal."

"I'm surprised the place hasn't blown up yet." Hood mused from where she was reading something on my personal terminal. Off the extranet, but still.

"Anyone else would have deemed that a certainty." Equinox absently conceded, then focused on me. "How do you do it? Records show the most you commanded was _Infinity_ 's Marine detachment, and that was only a couple thousand. These shipgirls seem like they're harder to handle with only a few dozen."

"Hard liquor and apathy." I droned. "Well, hard liquor and not-really-giving-a-shit, but there isn't really much difference."

"I see." The AI glanced at the bottles before turning to Hood. "And are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course." The battlecruiser dismissed her. She'd recently brought her bed from her dorm into my quarters. I mean, they were the same bed (technology), she just moved hers in. Was like moving a box, according to her. "If something breaks in, I deal with it."

"Thankfully, we both snore like chainsaws, so we won't wake each other up, I think." I cheerfully remarked.

"I don't think that's how sound works."

"You learn to sleep in a warzone, you sleep through _anything_." I replied to her doubtful remark.

Hood got up from my terminal, and dropped onto her bed. "Night, Aqua."

"Night, Hood." I automatically said, before yawning myself. "Night, Equinox."

The AI sighed. "Good night, Admiral." The lights shut off.

* * *

 **Finally, new shipgirls. I hope my introductory style is better than it used to be (it looks like it to me, since I burned an hour on Iowa's alone), but I dunno. It was starting to get stale without new insanity sources.**

 **I will say, it's hard to write a military commander's schedule. Mine is either 'go to school all day, then take care of dogs and do other stuff.' or 'sit around in my room all day and take care of dogs.' on my off days and 'work.' on my work days.**

 **I am the very model of a modern major fan fiction writer. And yes, I know the song.**

 **I recently learned Coke tested Coke with alcohol in it in Japan, and didn't even use it elsewhere. If Coke had alcohol in it, I'd probably drink it. Because I don't like soda, but have a taste for liquor.**

 **As an aside, buy quality booze.**

 **I don't meditate. I have other things I could be doing, but for** _ **whatever fucking reason**_ **one of my teachers last semester thought meditating before a test would help us do better. I take a twenty question test in about ten minutes. And usually get high scores. So,** _ **no**_ **, it did not help me, fuck you very much, teacher. I am here to learn, not get in touch with my 'inner self' because we've already met and argue all the time. And there's more than one.**

 **If anyone's willing to explain the logistics of repair baths to me, go ahead, because I'm pretty sure I just gave a bare-ass explanation of it like I do everything else and if there's something I missed I'll just lift it from your reply and use it with credit.**

 _ **Capitalism.**_ **And smart AIs.**

 **The reason I make a distinction is because in Halo-verse there's smart AIs and dumb AIs. Smart AIs include Cortana and Roland and dumb AIs include** _ **ODST**_ ' **s Superintendent and Auntie Dot. Smart AIs think like humans. Dumb AIs can only use logical paths. And dumb AIs don't have an expiration date, to my knowledge.**

 **Can't wait for Halo Infinity, by the way. And Kingdom Hearts 3 is** _ **finally**_ **coming out tomorrow at the time of writing, which horribly dates this commentary. Hype levels are off chart. Really don't like the Prime 4 delay.**

 _ **Nintendo you know I love Metroid y u do dis to meeeeeeeeeeee.**_

 **About Project RWBY: I'm building up a chapter buffer before I post more of it. This isn't very easy for me to do.**


	13. Admiral's Log- Day 12: In Memoriam

**So I did something I wouldn't normally do and bought a game day one. It** _ **is**_ **Kingdom Hearts 3, which had fifty fuckin' years of dev time between the fifteen thousand remakes, 358/2 Days, Birth by Sleep (still need to finish that) and 3D, and I worked for it, dammit. This commentary also dates this chapter's writing to January of 2019.**

 **Onwards, to great shipgirling.**

 **The Review Box:**

 **Ender001: CONGLATURATIONS!**

 **Fid99: Just another voice in the choir of crazy.**

 **Uh, what exactly do you mean by 'big F'?**

 **I literally found out about PC MCC an hour after I posted the chapter. Still hype about Halo Infinite. And the fight ain't finished yet, if three more games after that one are any indication... And since you're interested in PC Halo, I'd recommend you check out Installation 01. It's a fangame made from scratch, and it's like classic Halo.**

 **(one PM later) Ah. You are entirely correct in that assumption.**

 **Thanks to JDGZ OVSH and MrCraken for the follow/fav.**

* * *

 _Journal of Admiral Steele, January 12, 2558_

* * *

" _We've lost_ Grafton _! Repeat, frigate_ Grafton _has been destroyed by- oh my god-"_

" _That can't be good." Fleet Admiral Lord Terrance Hood stated gravely as the audio recording cut out._

" _Sir, with all due respect, there is a goddamn_ supercarrier _parked over Reach. Why am I not being sent there?!" Vice Admiral Aqua Steele asked._

" _NOBLE team is still stationed on Reach, along with the majority of the SPARTAN II corps." Hood replied. From his office in HIGHCOM, on Terra, they had an advantage on paper. While the orbital SMACs had been destroyed, and Zealot-classes had been spotted at a mining station in the large-scale engagement leading to_ Grafton' _s destruction, they still had numerical superiority, for however long that lasted._

" _And where Zealots show up, a Fleet is sure to follow." The upstart Vice Admiral responded. "Sir, if Reach is to have any_ hope _, we need to send everything short of the Terra Defense Fleet there. You know as well as I do that the only way to beat the Covenant without trickery is overwhelming force."_

" _At the cost of our fleets?" Aqua stiffened. "We may have to accept this. Reach may be lost."_

" _There are still civilians, Hood." She said desperately. "The Covenant doesn't show mercy! Everyone on that planet is dead if we simply do nothing!"_

" _I know." The Fleet Admiral stared out his window, observing Sydney from below him. It was easy to imagine the Covenant over Earth, almost a certainty with Reach's fall._

" _So how can- how can you stand by and_ condemn _millions, knowing we could do_ something _?" Aqua asked, weakly._

" _Because the CORE project is almost finished."_

" _CORE, sir?" The Fleet Admiral turned to his terminal, pulling up a file._

" _ONI was so gracious as to inform me of this recently." Hood stated, turning a hard glare onto the Vice Admiral. "You are not to let_ anyone _know of this. If you do… ONI doesn't care about your rank." The blue-headed soldier, barely out of adolescence by a physical standard, froze in terror._

 _The projection split into two windows, one showing a brain scan of one Doctor Catherine Halsey, and another showing an AI projection. It was a young female, data running up and down her form._

" _UNSC smart AI designation CTN 0452-9. An AI based off the brain of the SPARTAN mastermind herself." Hood gestured to the AI. "Currently partitioned. One is assigned to SPARTAN designation Sierra 'John'-117. The other is on Reach." CTN's image split into two, both standing above crystal chips._

" _And?"_

" _She's studying an alien artifact buried underneath SWORD Base. If Halsey's correct, we could be looking at a development along the lines of slipspace travel, something that could win the war."_

" _It's not so much 'winning' as it is 'surviving'. The last pre-war census data showed us at a total of over a hundred fifty billion. The death toll is already passing seventy billion. If they find Sol, we're done."_

" _True enough."_

 _Both stared at the depiction of the AI, wondering if she would hold the key to victory or defeat._

* * *

 _Six watched the_ Pillar of Autumn _break for space, atmospheric boosters dropping off the ship as it swerved around the imploding Covenant cruiser from the seat of the MAC. Firing a magnetically-charged projectile into a glassing laser, as it turned out, was an expedient way to destroy the thing._

 _On the_ Autumn _was the Package, an AI Halsey had specifically had her carry to the Halcyon-class light cruiser. All the doctor had said about it (once one dug through all the allusions and grandiose verbiage) was that it was 'the latchkey'._

 _Six didn't care. She'd finished her mission. Now she had one more._

 _Objective: Survive._

 _Spartans never die. Propaganda from the UNSC, meant to keep morale up that their super soldiers were actually immortal._

 _Six had seen Jorge toss her off the doomed supercarrier and disappear into a slipspace rupture. Watched Kat eat a ballistic plasma to the head. Didn't know Jun's status. Saw Carter ram a Scarab. Watched Emile get stabbed, stepped over his body to reach the MAC. Unable to do a damn thing about them._

 _Spartans died. She would be no different._

 _It didn't matter her 'hyper-lethal' rating. There was only so long until the Reaper swung his scythe._

 _And she was going to make it take as long as she could damn well make it._

* * *

 _Terra spat out a glob of blood, wincing as she pressed her arm to her waist momentarily. The blowback from the plasma grenade she'd stuck to the Wraith had slammed her into a wall. Her armor was scuffed and burned from blunt force impacts and plasma. Her shields had failed. The cushioning gel was barely holding on. She'd gotten rid of her helmet when her HUD had failed. She had no idea what her ammo count was. She was out of grenades. Her face was scratched, burned, and bruised._

 _But still she fought._

 _Countless Covenant corpses littered the abandoned airfield. Scraps of Banshees and Wraiths lay scattered about._

 _Panting, she dropped her empty pistol and assault rifle. Spotting two deactivated energy swords, she checked the charges before picking them up. They wouldn't last long, and her knife and Emile's kukri would barely delay the inevitable._

 _But seven hours against everything the Covenant had thrown against SPARTAN Terra-B312 almost had her just end it herself. Almost._

 _A squad of Zealot Elites appeared in front of her, their decloaking revealing them to be led by a Field Marshal, not unlike the one at the shipyards._

 _The lead alien said something in the Elite's growly language. The lone wolf merely activated the blades in her hands in defiance._

 _Spartans never die. They're only missing in action._

* * *

 _On a hillside, not too far from the Gateway on Earth._

 _A wing, torn from a Pelican, lies next to a platform. The words ' **IN MEMORY OF THOSE FALLEN IN THE DEFENSE OF EARTH AND HER COLONIES** ' is emblazoned on the side. Pictures of fallen soldiers are seen, with flowers, guns, hats, and other memorada decorating the platform around and below._

 _Fleet Admiral Hood and Admiral Steele stand on the platform. A crowd of Marines, some Seperatists, and cameras are gathered in front of them. The Arbiter stands slightly to the right of the platform, adjacent to a line of Marines holding DMRs._

 _Hood began to speak as he removed his hat. "For us, the storm has passed. The war is over._

 _But let us never forget those who journeyed into the howling dark, and did not return."_

* * *

 _The fore half of UNSC_ Forward Unto Dawn _crashes into the Indian Ocean. Lookout crews signal their communications crews as recovery Pelicans fly over head._

 _Later, a team of mechanics have weakened the metal enough for the Arbiter to emerge._

* * *

 _"For their decision required courage beyond measure, sacrifice, and unshakable conviction that their fight, our fight, was elsewhere."_

 _"As we start to rebuild, this hillside will remain barren, a memorial to heroes fallen. They ennobled all of us, and they shall not be forgotten."_

 _Hood replaced his hat, and saluted._

 _"Present! Arms!" Steele barked, the line of seven Marines raising their rifles. Each fired in unison three bullets, the discharge noise carrying over the silent plains._

* * *

 _Aqua Steele stood alone, facing the memorial. She'd come to do something that she didn't want anyone else to see.  
_

 _"So it's over, huh, Sis?" She asked. A tear began to well up as she looked at the photograph she'd brought. One that had survived with her from her first second in basic._

 _A photograph of her, age seven, side hugging a blonde girl of the same age, their faces oddly identical._

 _A photo taken on Reach, before it fell._

 _"Just a shame you didn't live to see it through." She was crying freely now, but smiling. She affixed the photograph to the Pelican wing, standing back for a moment._

 _The numbers_ 117 _were carved under the message on the memorial. Taking out her combat knife, Aqua carved_ B-312 _next to it, then_ Noble Six _under that._

 _Sheathing the knife, she saluted one last time, then left._

 _The setting sun cast golden rays onto the memorial._

* * *

 _A scorched helmet sat in a field of grass, the blue visor smeared with detritus. The cyan and gold color was tarnished beyond even when it had seen active combat._

 _Aqua picked up Terra's helmet, silently examining what was left of her sister._

 _After the_ Pillar of Autumn _had reported in after a slipspace jump, without Terra on board, she'd known. The newly minted Admiral merely stared at a helmet that had concealed the face of one of the UNSC's greatest heroes... and one of her greatest regrets._

" _What have you found?"_

 _Absently, she glanced behind her, to where the Arbiter was stomping towards her._

" _A MJONLNR helmet." She responded. "My sister's."_

" _I see." The Sangheili stated as he stopped besides her. "So she was the Demon The Fleets had trouble with."_

" _Familiar to you, then." There was no mistaking the hard edge in the human's voice. The Arbiter nodded anyway._

" _Aye. She destroyed several armies before a Field Marshal's detachment finally struck her down. She brought honor to your race, for fighting until the end. The Field Marshal noted as such in his report."_

" _Well, isn't that something, then." Aqua smirked, before turning to the Pelican that had brought them onto the newly-terraformed Reach. The gunship was waiting to transfer her and the Arbiter back to the newly launched_ Infinity _. After a short jaunt back to Earth, she was to run the ship and crew through their paces before returning to HIGHCOM for new orders. With the help of many of the Covenant Separatists, the cleanup from the war was progressing quickly. So quickly that the ship proclaiming their victory was able to be launched fully armed and crewed, instead of barely armed with a skeleton crew._

 _Aqua placed the helmet down on a table with a label reading 'Historical Records', not too far away from where a Pelican had brought a bunch of scientists and historians to study the place. Then she strode onto the waiting gunship._

* * *

Not too much happened today. I waited to write until tonight because of that.

Today's sortie was into subsector Bravo, moving on those installations Equinox had designated yesterday. The tentacle had put up token resistance before it was destroyed.

Easy work.

That the fleet hadn't suffered any casualties was unnerving. Either the Abyssals are far too weak, or, more likely, were holding back to make us drop our guard. Even as the shipgirls celebrated, I could only hope that when the inevitable came, it wouldn't be complete annihilation.

That's all I really want. Reach didn't even make me this… anticipatory for something bad to happen.

* * *

 **A mostly flashback chapter today. Mainly because of worldbuilding, I guess. And I'm running out of ideas.**

 **But, hey, have a different Noble Six death scene implication. Fun for all you lore nerds out there.**

 **I use Earth and Terra interchangeably, because, well, Terra is Latin for 'earth'. So, yeah it makes sense. And if you're using it as a name you use people pronouns.**

 **Cortana being 'partitioned' is something I came up with to explain an inconsistency between Halo: Reach and Fall of Reach. In Fall of Reach, Chief had Cortana from when he started his training. In Reach, she's studying the Forerunner artifact under SWORD Base. AI 'partitioning' is basically like fragments from Red vs. Blue - an AI is split into two. However, partitioning is voluntary, and can be reversed. Fragmenting is not.**

 **The last level of Halo: Reach, Lone Wolf, only lasts as long as you do, which is about 15-20 minutes depending on skill. In canon, it's hours, with shit that's not in the level, but entirely believable, considering how much force the Covenant brings to bear against Reach, and Six being the only other 'hyper-lethal' SPARTAN besides old Johnny. I tried to blend them as well as I could.**

 **I would not like my death to be over a fucking nickname.**


	14. Admiral's Log- Day 13: Just Another Day-

**SHIPGIRLS.**

 **By the way, BAC .049%.**

 **The Review Box:**

 **MarauderPrime12: Aye.**

 **Thanks to Cptdave for the follow. Due to the hiatus, I'll just add on additional thanks to this chapter until I get around to the next one. On the subject, thanks to readerofgoodfanfiction (that name sounds like a good sign) for the follow.**

—

 _Journal of Admiral Steele, January 13, 2564_

Another weekend. Yayyyyyy.

I slept in. It was great. Hood did as well, likely because she knew that getting up early was the name of the game now, and sleep is precious. She was still sacked out when I finally rolled out of bed. I figured I'd leave her there again, but decided to have Equinox leave her a message instead.

* * *

Hood found me at the agility range, where I was training to see if I could beat the course while testing the rules. It's how I do everything- find out the rules/habits of the game/person you're playing against, and exploit them mercilessly. They bet high often? Call their bluff. Act calm, but they have a tell? Watch. I may have gotten myself banned from some casinos because I'm rather good at poker and Blackjack, though that's probably just me getting somewhat lucky- although I won't touch slots.

Ever deal with a little trick known as the Kansas City Shuffle? There are two correct responses to the trick: if it's a shell game, punch the shuffler. If it's a game show, start questioning the host.

I was younger, then, and the gambling age is lower… for some bizarre reason. Fuck if I know.

"Hmmm…" I… well, hmmmed. "Hood, how easy would you say the agility course is?" The battlecruiser seemed slightly startled by my question, mainly because I hadn't even acknowledged her entering the room.

"Uhhh.. for the lighter, faster girls, it's easier." She said. "The slower ones have a tougher time."

"Obviously." I said. "Now, riddle me this; 'you can see me, but cannot touch.'"

"A stripper?" She asked in deadpan. I rolled my eyes.

"Christ, no. You spend too much time on the extranet. I mean being visible, but untouchable."

"My previous answer still applies."

"For fuck's sake. Appearance. Look slow, move fast." I said, pointing at the motion sensors. "See, when those detect movement, they signal the guns to fire. But, if I do this-" I shot a practice round at it, the paint blocking the sensor and allowing me to walk right past it.

"-it doesn't shoot." I finished.

"Alright." The battlecruiser glanced at the course as the self-clean went to work.

"First rule of combat: there are no rules. Second rule of combat: loopholes and exact words are your friends." I dictated.

"I think that's a violation of some ethics code somewhere."

"Ethics takes a backseat to survival." I shot back. "Wasn't sure if you knew."

"Well, I imagine the aliens didn't do much to endear themselves to you first." Hood replied.

"Now you get it." I clapped my hand on her shoulder cheerfully, then started dragging her out. "Now let's get some food, I'm goddamn starving."

* * *

You know, there really isn't a whole lot to _do_ on a space station orbiting an uninhabited planet orbiting a binary star.

What do normal commanders do when they're bored? Well, go off base, I would think. Except that requires there to be something to go off base to.

Which we do not have, due to the classification of this mission.

I was pulled from my internal monologue by Equinox popping up on my desk, holding a worm.

"Interesting." The smart AI muttered, manipulating it in her palm.

"What is?" I pulled my boots off the desk, scooting in a little.

"I've been scanning the station's systems since you jacked me in, and I just isolated this little bugger."

"Dammit, I must not have cleared my junk mail again…" I muttered, already moving to do so.

"Didn't come from your mailbox." I paused.

"So it was already on the station?" She nodded. "What's it do?"

"That's the thing." Equinox said, frowning. "I don't know. I just know it's been lingering in the codebase for a while."

"Wonderful." I muttered. "Zit malignant?"

"Not sure. Can't believe you even know that word."

"Smarter than I look."

* * *

I was looking over a list when, to my surprise, Ashford walked up to me where I was sitting at the not-bar's bar. I glanced at her before returning to my reading, dimly listening to the frigate order a drink.

"What are ya reading?"

I turned to the blonde frigate. She was leaning on the bar, arm propped while giving me an inquisitive look.

"The Evil Overlord list and Genre Savvy Guide." I responded.

"Planning to be an Evil Overlord then?" She asked, taking her drink from Houshou and taking a sip.

"Au contraire. I like to expect everything." I replied. "Know thyself, know thy enemy."

"Ah." We sat in silence as I continued reading, and she started drinking. The hum from the rest of the shipgirls added a bit of background; a few destroyers and Bismarck hanging around the console, Tenryuu and her kids (I did not snicker at that thought) eating, Iowa and Jersey arm wrestling…

Oh, hey, Akagi's strangling a destroyer. Again.

"Just another day at the office." I muttered, reaching for my whiskey.

* * *

 **Personal alcohol preference: Straight.**

 **That is all.**

 **I miss when these things only took a day to write.**

 **ATTENTION: UNITED NATIONS SHIPGIRL COMMAND IS GOING ON HIATUS AFTER THIS CHAPTER. I HAVE LOTS OF WORK TO DO, AND NO CHAPTER BUFFER TO LEAN ON. I APOLOGIZE FOR THIS, SINCE THIS IS WHY I INSTITUTED A BUFFER IN THE FIRST PLACE, BUT I PROMISE TO BEGIN UPLOADING AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.**

 **THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND UNDERSTANDING.**


	15. Admiral's Log- Day 14: -At The Office

**This isn't me returning to the story just yet. The buffer isn't built up enough for it. I just have this chapter sitting around with some time-sensitive references, so I decided to post it.  
**

* * *

 ** _Resolves to write more after writing some last night._**

 ** _only writes a paragraph._**

 **JUST**

 **Thanks to megaman11756 and Magicknight573, as well as GreenRena and chaoslord1324 for the follow/favorites.**

* * *

 _Journal of Admiral Steele, January 14, 2558_

It's official.

I've run out of things to do/complain about. This bodes not well for my mental state.

I got so bored that I actually went and looked at our fleet compositions.

The UNSC Grand Fleet, trademark, is split into several smaller flotillas, something more effective now that we don't have plasma-toting aliens gunning for everything larger than a light cruiser. A battleship, carrier, super battleship, supercarrier, or dreadnought is designated as the flotilla flagship. Flotilla are usually made up of their flagship, four destroyers as their escort, a couple frigates, some cruisers, and on the occasion, a heavier ship. Flotilla are usually given patrol routes or a presence around X planet. Earth and Reach still have their own Defense Fleets, though they still haven't reached full strength yet. Last I heard, they were planning on resurrecting the _Trafalgar_ as it's own class, and maybe basing some more off of it.

I have been out of the loop for a bit. Absently I wondered if this project was declassified if I'd be awarded a Fleet Admiral rank. The number of shipgirls on the station was beginning to add up, and the total number of warships we had was somewhere in the high hundreds to low one thousands. Maybe I'd shoot a facetious email to HIGHCOM and they'd actually accept it.

It might alleviate the boredom somewhat.

* * *

I went to the science lab to take a look in on the science ships. Phoenix had sent word of new shipgirls, more specifically, two shipgirls that matched Aether's personality.

The lab was deserted once I entered, various projects, blueprints, paper, and disposable coffee cups littered around. The matter replicator hummed quietly in a corner, next to a sign that said not to use it unauthorized under duress of SCIENCE! happening to the infringer's sorry ass.

I was about to leave when I heard a noise from down a hallway. I suppose the science ships would want to live near their work.

The hallway was shortish, with eight doors, one marked with Akashi's name, another with Luna's (and with a sock on the handle, I really didn't want to process _those_ implications… or the possibility thereof), and finally, Aether's, which I heard more noises. I think it was Japanese, since my translator was pinging with random snippets of translation. Some of which was bordering on explicit. I opened the door.

Luna was sat in front of a computer, typing furiously one one screen while another, to her right and angled more towards the door, played an episode of an anime (the introductory sequence and my translator helpfully supplying the name _Love Live!_ , a show from a long time ago). Scattered around the desk she was sitting at were various figures in varying stages of completion, while more took up space on shelves and tables that were not in the original room plan. A pillow roughly the height of the smaller shipgirl (5'4", compared to Luna's 5'7" or my 6') was laid out on the bed, depicting some girl with long blue hair, naked, and very nicely proportioned. Posters of other anime (dear god) were hanging around the room, each of them some variety of eye-searingly bright.

Luna continued her typing as I looked around the room, the volume her anime was at possibly drowning my entrance out. This let me get a good look at exactly what she was typing. And looking at it... well hot damn. She has... uh, _inventive_ , ideas for what can be done with a microphone, spray paint, and twelve feet of pool noodle. Wait a second, how old are those girls?

Glancing back at the other screen, I noticed that slightly underlaid beneath the anime window was one open to a chat forum. It seemed she had sent off a message before I walked in, as the post her avatar was next to was ratcheting up the window as replies and debate pushed it up. A lot of them... yikes, the joke about filthy degenerates has basis. If anything, it's downplaying it.

"Would you mind telling me why you're writing trash when you should be _working_?" I asked, allowing a harsh edge to creep into my tone. The research ship froze, carefully glancing up, paling faster than a Marine recruit faced with a superior officer, and frantically tried to shut the offending windows down.

"Why Admiral, I had no idea, I must have clicked on an ad somewhere, silly me, these darn pop up sites _why won't it close?!_ " She frantically tried to divert my attention from the windows that were, indeed, not closing.

"So when's the holonet release?" I asked flatly. That was her cue to stop, slump over in defeat, and turn around. She wasn't in her usual outfit, instead wearing pajamas with moon patterns on them.

"..." I sighed. This shit was so far out of my wheelhouse it was in an entirely separate arm of the galaxy.

Jesus, why me?

"Look, I'm fine with you having... _extracurricular hobbies_ , but don't let it interfere with your work, okay?" I said, placing my hand on her shoulder. She nodded timidly. I sighed again. I turned to leave, before smirking and glancing back at Luna.

"Also, if I turn up in one of those, I expect royalties."

I whistled as the door closing behind me cut off the science shipgirl's sputtering, setting off down the hall at a brisk pace. When I passed Aether's door, I stopped.

"And here I thought I only had _one_ pervert on base. Hopefully I don't get called in for possible molestation of minors charges." I said.

The loud thud in the room behind me did not put a large smirk on my face.

* * *

The new shipgirls I mentioned earlier arrived. As it turns out, there's a reason they only sent two.

"Hi there, Admiral!" One of them, Yuudachi chirped, saluting with one hand while the other lugged a fucking _rotary cannon_.

"One… last… bit…" The other, Yuudachi, muttered as she made a few tweaks to a goddamn armor frame. For what? I don't fucking know, I'm questioning where she got a SPARTAN armor frame.

My eye twitched as I rigidly pointed towards the science division. The both of them went off like the kids they resembled with their pet projects.

Aether _would_ get a kick out of them.

* * *

"Thrust!" I barked. Tenryuu did so. I then kicked her shin. "Don't commit fully unless you know you're going to hit!"

"Geez, you make it sound so easy…" The light cruiser grumbled as she attempted a high chop that I ducked and countered with a front kick.

"That's because it is, cupcake!" I snarled. I held my arms out to my sides, taunting her. "Come on then!"

"Fine!" She charged forward, intent to shoving her energy katana straight into my gut.

Except for the bit where I moved, dodged a clumsy attempt to redirect, and brought a fist down on the back of her neck, dropping her like a stone.

"Well… You're at least learning." I sighed, reaching down to help her up. "You have to remember that occasionally there's Abyssals skilled with the blade out there, and they aren't weak to your Warriors-game style."

"I know that." Tenryuu deactivated her sword and hung the hilt of from her belt. "I just don't know why you kicking my ass is considered 'training'."

"You haven't been in the military long, have you?" I deadpanned. She glared at me.

"Not _physically_ , no."

"Then suck it up, buttercup." I said. Equinox pinging me on my comm was probably the only thing keeping me from having her go again. But I've got a sortie to plot.

* * *

"Alright, we're moving deeper into the Sector." Equinox pointed out. She had a visualization above my desk while pointing to it. Subsectors Charlie and Delta were currently highlighted. "Satellite and laser imaging is still being blocked in Echo and Foxtrot, so I think that narrows down the options for 'main base'".

"Right, but charging into either would be suicide." I said. "What are Charlie and Delta looking like?"

"Charlie so far has only had that marauding group cleaned up." Equinox zoomed in on two particular points of interest. "This first one, a little closer to us in the SC Cluster, is another patrol, but with what looks like even stronger types. I think one of them may have battleship-level weaponry, they're all above light cruiser firepower, however."

"How's the Science Division's MAC research going?" I asked. The Smart AI grimaced.

"Not good. They've made some progress… but the prototypes are still too big and power requiring."

"Hmmm… and the other points of interest?"

"I've confirmed the presence of an Installation-Type, on a small planet orbiting Theta Scorpii." The image shown was much like that of the last Installation, Anchored Planet Princess (who, in pattern, demanded be called Anchorage), only with a load more orbital batteries and activity. While the base itself received a steady supply of lower Abyssal types, one of them stood out, almost looking like an Abyssal version of Bismarck. "I've tentatively dubbed her 'Starfield Princess', since her planet is near a binary star and located near a few other stars in the area."

"I see." I nodded.

"Next, we have the other elephant in the sector." This time, an Abyssal version of Iowa flashed up on screen. "Battleship Princess. She has the same approximate armament of the four Iowa sisters, and is efficient at using it. I'm recommending we approach her with a Danger Close threat level. Fortunately, she's alone, but sending more than a small group risks unnecessary friendly fire."

"Wonderful." I muttered, lacing my fingers and planting my elbows on the table. How do we solve the problem of three high-threat targets on our relative front doorstep?

"I think going for Starfield Princess is likely suicide, even if we throw the whole fleet at her." Equinox chipped in. "Battleship Princess could probably be taken by dogpiling her. The easiest to take out would probably be that patrol squad."

"So we have our targets, then." I said. "Let's send Iowa in with some backup to take care of Battleship Princess. Texas can take some other girls and deal with our renegade patrol."

"Of course." Equinox began to type on her screens, sending messages off to the shipgirls that would be sortieing.

I leaned back in my chair. The feeling of anticipation was back, and arguably worse than two days ago.

So I composed an email….

* * *

As it turned out, I was correct to be anticipating something bad.

Several girls came back with pretty bad injury. Among others, an Ashford missing an arm, Kongo coated in blood, the works.

But we were missing someone.

Hibiki.

According to Inazuma, Tenryuu had been targeted by Battleship Princess, but Hibiki had flown in front of her and taken the blast herself. They hadn't found a body.

The rest of DesDiv 6 was miserable, and we tried to give them as much space as they needed.

As for Tenryuu, their official-unofficial caretaker?

She shut herself in her room. A lot of yelling and breaking followed. Then silence.

When I went in after a while, she was face down on her bed, with the rest of the room bearing various sword marks. Nothing too important was broken or melted, but I could tell she'd had a lot of anger to work out.

All I saw in her visible eye was despair, but she didn't argue when I pulled her up by her forearm and walked out, dragging her behind me without a word.

* * *

Something not very many of the shipgirls knew was that there was an observation deck, quite ostensibly for observing the space around the station. It also came equipped with benches.

Tenryuu and I sat on one, an empty bottle of vodka on the ground at her feet, and another one clutched in her hand. I had been planning on drinking with her, but when she had drained her bottle before I'd even got to mine, I just passed it over. We didn't speak.

Once she was halfway through the bottle, she raised her head up. "How did it feel to lose people under your charge." It was more of a statement than a question, but it was one nonetheless.

"At first?" I said. "Like you. Like I failed on a personal level." Absently, I rubbed my side. "Goddamn Brute came at us with a Gravity Hammer. Private Second Class Jackson… well, he jumped in front of me before the monkey could get me. I got the shockwave… he got splattered."

"And?"

"I killed that fucker there." I said. My voice had gone very flat, but it did that. "Then I picked that hammer up and went to town on anything else that wasn't friendly. All things considered, that was probably what persuaded me to join the ODSTs."

"I see." Tenryuu was probably too far gone to really notice, but I still grasped her shoulder lightly.

"But I got over it. He may have been the first man I lost in the line of duty, but he wasn't the last. He knew the risks, we all did. Fight and die or die anyways."

"... I was distracted with some smaller Abyssals ganging up on me. Battleship Princess fired at me… and she just took all the shells for me." Hibki must have detonated them all, then. Tenryuu slugged her drink. "By the time I heard her scream… she was gone."

We stayed silent after that. Eventually, she finished the bottle. Apparently, that was just enough to tip her into unconsciousness. So she slumped onto my shoulder.

I let her stay there a while before dragging her back down to her room and hauling her onto her bed.

Just because it was a while ago doesn't mean we forget.

* * *

 **Here we go, another chapter done. Finally. I suppose I got complacent with the buffer. Well, uh, I guess not now.**

 **Anyways, blah blabity I'm going to write more, thank you for patience, all that garbage, blah.**

 **The baseline of the scene with Aether (which I believe is most of the chapter's read time) came about from a conversation with KCNederland where we were discussing future interactions with her, Luna, and the Yuudachi twins. He mentioned she was really into anime, so I went to the logical weeby conclusion.**

 **I can do this because I myself am a mild weeb, therefore it's self-parody.**

 **Oh, and MCC is coming to PC. That's cool.**

 **That is all.**

 **And I blame my Discord friends for distracting me with TF2 and RWBY respectively. No I'm not linking the server I'm on.**


	16. Admiral's Log- Day 15: Divergence

**So funny thing about life….**

 **Uh, hey there. This is sort of a special before the actual prechapter thing, because, uh, yeah. It's been a long time. I… don't have any real excuses. I've been busy and also haven't been paying attention to the story. So, for that, I am sorry.**

 **First off, I guess I should say thank you to everyone who either stuck around or came on during this giant ass chunk of dead story. Since there's so many I don't know if I could list you all in the pre chapter, I'm not going to try, but just say thank you. If you were feverishly checking the story every day to see if I uploaded a new chapter, or followed or favorited, thank you, because hell if I know I've been in that same position, and maybe, just maybe, I actually am doing something right.**

 **Second, I should say where I've been. Namely, my life. I do have a job that takes up a lot of my time, and when I'm not doing that, I'm also taking part in a discord server revolving around sports. I've also gotten into streaming, but that hasn't been first and foremost among my time. Really, I've been doing my daily routine for the past half year, minus writing this story.**

 **Third, I downloaded and started playing Azur Lane. And uh… yeah. It's good. Surprisingly fair for a mobile gacha game. Besides that, it's also given me some good ideas for the future in terms of this piece of literary spew.**

 **But enough of that. I'd like to say I'm back, but, well, I don't know. Either way, thank you for all of the follows and favorites, and for actually reading my stuff in the first place.**

 **AT Pyro (I also nailed down an actual permanent name).**

* * *

 **What do you get when you mix sleep deprivation with a late night Halo: Reach session, 4 hours of sleep, and caffeine?**

 **This chapter!**

 **I regret…. some things, maybe.**

 **The Review Box:**

 **KCNederland (via PM): Hmmm, agree to disagree on the Aether scene. I might tweak it, but I don't think it'll be too dramatic.**

 **As for Yuudachi/Yuubari, no I haven't. It's a reference to the most popular Kancolle fic on here by a certain CV12Hornet. I'll let you figure it out.**

 **AmythestPone: (first review, Chapter 10):I lean more towards 'secret evil that is overall good but with a couple dicks in there for personal gain'. Considering that the SPARTAN IIIs were orphans picked up to be used as suicide fighters... yeah, someone up the chain has a very fast and loose grasp on ethics (which, incidentally, the scandal over it led to Parangosky being tossed under the bus for the SPARTAN IIIs once their existence was declassified shortly after the Ark incident).**

 **...when did I say that and I was probably referring to 'instant terraforming'.**

 **SPARTAN IIIs were used for the purpose ONI decided to use them for. Except NOBLE team, because they were too badass to waste on suicide missions.**

 **(second review, Chapter 15): Indeed.**

—

 _Journal of Admiral Steele, January 15, 2558_

It was… well, a little sobering to see Tenryuu being helped around by her kids this morning. I mean, they were helping her with the hangover, but the usual group dynamic was off. The normally loud light cruiser was very quiet. I don't think I heard Akatsuki claim to be a lady once, or even a peep of 'nanodesu' from Inazuma. The first loss does hurt the worst.

After it happens nearly every battle, you get numb to it.

Of course, while the other ships let them do what they needed, that didn't translate to me letting them sit around. They weren't going to sortie today, but we had enough ships that missing four wasn't too big of an issue, and we were going to get more today as well.

Course, even with that rationale, I still sat at my desk wondering, as I did every time someone had bit the big one under my command, if I could have done something else differently. Much as I prided myself on emotional disassociation, it actually felt painful to watch the destroyers, once so cheerful and vibrant, mope around like their puppy had died.

Which, in essence, it did.

Watching Tenryuu beat herself up about it was worse. Because I felt like I was back in time watching Petty Officer me after she'd lost a man in an engagement on Gaza.

This was something I mused on as Hood and I waited for the new ships to disembark from the now customary Phoenix ship. They hadn't mentioned who to expect, so I was just waiting and thinking.

" _Privet_ , Admiral." The voice was now leaning more towards the Russian side than Japanese, but there was no mistaking that voice.

The hat was slightly more floppy than it used to be, as well as white instead of blue, but aside from that and lacking the tie she had before, it was Hibiki, almost like she never left.

Absently I noted hearing Hood's shotgun hit the floor. I wasn't too concerned.

"Hey, Admiral?" Inazuma asked dully as she tugged on my sleeve. "When are-" She noticed Hibiki. "Are-"

"Is nice to see too, Inazuma." Hibiki said, with a small smirk on her face.

The next thing I knew, I was laid out flat on my front, and there were three destroyers piled on the returned shipgirl, each of them crying or saying something and generally doing what you'd expect if your sister suddenly showed up good as new after you thought they were dead.

"I was not gone too long, was I?" Hibiki asked almost petulantly, but began to rub Inazuma's head, causing her sister destroyer to nuzzle into it.

"Alright, alright, enough with the warm fuzzies, we have shit to do." I muttered, rubbing my sore nose as I stood back up.

"I should believe so." A snowy-haired shipgirl in a maid uniform said, curtseying when I directed my attention to her. "Greetings, Admiral. This humble servant is Belfast, a heavy cruiser. Is there anywhere you wish for me to start?"

"If by cleaning, then the cruiser dorms and good luck?" I said, rather confused. "Oh, and don't even attempt to clean the R&D. Either whatever they've made a mess of will kill you, or they will kill you."

"Acknowledged." She bowed this time, then set off to the dorms.

I then turned and came face to, well, chest with a shipgirl who was taller than I was. Looking up, I saw a shipgirl who looked quite similar to Belfast, though with sharper features, wearing a longcoat over an old American Captain's coat.

"Fair seas, Admiral. I am Enterprise, pride of the Eagle Union. I'm sure it will be a pleasure to serve." She said, saluting.

"Eagle Union?" I asked.

"Yes. I assume you've heard of them?" She asked. Time to change tactics.

"Yes, of course. Carrier dorms are thattaway." I pointed with my thumb. She strode off, while I mentally ran through my history. There had never, at any point in time, been a nation known as the Eagle Union. Meaning…

"She's gotten a knock on the head or she's from a different timeline." I said. Honestly, was it that unbelievable? What with the (female) spirits of ships running around and weird aliens and shit. What's the saying? 'When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'?

At this point I wasn't even sure what _was_ impossible.

So I gave up, and went to get a drink.

I finally had to admit it: The Enterprise I had met today was not the spirit of the _USS Enterprise_ from our Earth. For one, the whole 'Eagle Union' thing. For another: She was referring to an alliance between them and the Royal Navy named 'Azur Lane', which, again, never existed.

So, I'm theorizing she's from a different timeline or something. In that instance, the 'Eagle Union' is obviously the old United States Of America. 'Azur Lane' would probably be parallel to the Allied nations of World War 2, or maybe NATO. She also mentioned a 'Crimson Axis', which seems rather easy to parallel, along with a 'Sakura Empire' and 'Iron Blood'.

Outside my forays into possible alternative timelines, we found out that she's quite a capable carrier. Like the others, she uses a bow, though hers has her superstructure incorporated into it.

God damn, first tentacle aliens and time-travelling ship spirits, now fucking alternate timelines? Dear fucking god.

—

 **I got stuck here for a good long while before deciding 'fuck it' and ending the chapter here.**

 **I'm not dead yet.**


	17. Admiral's Log- Day 16: Development Hell

**So apparently people liked the last chapter. I mean, that's just fine, you do you, but I thought it was one of my weaker ones. Well, what do I know, then?**

 **Thanks to J. 1919, Mountain Jew (there's a handle), Slayer 10321 and kreeft123xx for the follows/favorites.**

 **The Review Box:**

 **MarauderPrime12: Thanks.**

* * *

 _Journal of Admiral Steele, January 16, 2558_

Heading into the office this morning, I found a notification blinking on my computer screen.

"Morning Admiral. You've got some commissions to check." Equinox reported.

"Commissions?" I asked, sitting down.

"Yep. Send two to six shipgirls out and they should come back with some good stuff." Equinox 'flipped' through a sheaf of papers. "Most of it is guarding military convoys passing through and helping the select resource mining groups that have been allowed in. We've got four here now. Interested?"

"Sure, why not." I replied. I cobbled together four groups of six (which was a little under half of the fleet, come to think of it) and sent them orders. Seems a relaxing day was in the cards for the rest, since I wanted the fleet at full strength for the inevitable assault on Starfield Princess, and since we got new shipgirls by the day, stalling while building the fleet seemed like the best option.

* * *

"What's up?" I asked.

"This is." By the sound of Akashi's voice, she wasn't very amused. On a drawing table- drafting table? Blueprint table?- were packets of papers (not the paper that the R&D girls used for their designs), each of them with a top sheet blank save for a few words.

 _USS Seattle, Buffalo, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Georgia, Montana, Ohio, HMS Neptune, Minotaur, Monarch, Lion, Conqueror, Thunderer, Audacious, IJN Ibuki, Zao, Yoshino, Izumo, Amagi, Tosa, Kitakaze, Azuma, Hakuryu, Yashima, KMS Roon, Hindenburg, Mainz, Odin, Siegfried, Agir, Friedrich der Große, Großer Kurfürst, Rhein, Weser, Parseval, Manfred von Richthofen, FFNF Saint Louis, MNF Gascogne, MN Henri IV, Colbert, Alsace, Republique, Bourgogne SN Moskva, Alexander Nevsky, Petropavlovsk, Stalingrad, Smolensk,_ and _Kremlin_.

"These showed up overnight." Akashi said grumpily. "We looked through them this morning. The resource requirements for these are obscene! 'Obtain 3 million experience from Royal Navy ships. Gather 30,000 credits. Gather 5 Wisdom Cubes.' The flying fuck is a Wisdom Cube?"

"I don't know, but I get the sense we'll be finding out today." I muttered. "Wait, I know these names."

"You do?" The repair ship looked askance at me.

"Yeah. I went looking on data from the navies back in the 20th century. All these names are of ships that were never built, never commissioned, or never finished."

"So what will doing all this garbage do? Magically summon them, specially made to fight Abyssals?"

"Considering that's why you're here," I replied. "I would guess so."

"Well I hope you have the 450,000 credits to spare. I'm not paying for this shit." The repair ship left.

"Hmmm…." I pondered the blueprints. Jesus, those requirements were pretty steep.

"Nyaaaah!"

"What in the-?!" I turned around, bringing my sword around into stabbing position. "Who's there?"

"But you know who it is, nyaaah." The voice sounded… confused? "It's Akashi, nyaaah!"

"Akashi just left. And would probably commit seppuku before talking like that." I said, scanning the room. Where was she?

"But Akashi's right here!" She said right in my ear holy fuck

I turned to find her right behind me.

This Akashi was a catgirl. Like, honest to god, ears and tail and everything. Besides her cat-patterned dress, she held what looked like an oversized wrench. Her hair (and ears) were also a vibrant gasoline green.

"Yeah next time could you not do that kthanks." I said, deactivating my sword from where it was stuck in her face. She didn't look too concerned.

"That's okay, Admiral. Akashi knows when she's been naughty, nyaaaah." The cat-shipgirl nuzzled into me. You know, like a cat. "But I can make it up to Admiral, nyaaaah."

"Don't. Please." I said. Then, brandishing a packet (Roon), I asked, "Did you leave these here?"

"No. Maybe the ships themselves did, nyaaah?"

"Except that should be physically impossible." I muttered, overcome with the urge to go and drown myself in liquor for the who knows what fucking time.

* * *

Once more, I stood at attention, waiting for the next assortment of shipgirls. That Enterprise arriving yesterday had only made me more curious, if the process that these girls came about from could actually reach into different timelines.

Either that or she really needs to crack open some 20th Century History books, but that's not here nor there.

"Guten Tag, Admiral. I am Z23, of the Iron Blood. Let us study hard together, and aim for the top!" The first shipgirl, a destroyer, said, saluting with her left hand while the right held a rigging not unlike a shark's face. Sounds like a German parallel- they got particularly lazy when it came to naming their destroyers.

"Benson-class destroyer, Laffey, awaiting your orders." A tired-looking destroyer lined up next to Z23. I glanced at her ears. "Admiral, the ears aren't real…. There's no need to stare." She yawned. Aside from the…. Questionable length of her skirt, she didn't look too out of the ordinary. Must be Amer- Eagle Union, goddammit I'm gonna have to start differentiating them.

Another destroyer lined up next to them. "I'm Javelin, Admiral. Nice to meet you." I just stared at her wordlessly. Which she took to mean as attraction, if her "Oh ho? You look like you have no idea what to do with a girl of your type being assigned to you?" was any indication.

"Ah, greetings, Javelin." Hood spoke up from my side.

"Heya, Hood!" She's a Royal Navy girl, then.

"Hello… I'm…. Ayanami. I am often called 'The Demon'. It is a pleasure to meet you." A fourth, obviously Japanese shipgirl finished the line, clearly just deadpan, probably because she wasn't familiar with emotions or something.

"Nice to meet you all, I guess." I replied. "Destroyer dorms are that way, and each nation has their own."

"Aw, but can't we bunk together?" Javelin piped up. "You can't just split the Starter Squad!"

"Are you still going on about that?" Z23 shot a skeptical glance at the British DD.

"But we agreed!"

"For fuck's… Fine, you guys can stay together." I said, pinching the bridge of my nose in an attempt to help my headache.

"Thanks, Admiral!" Javelin grabbed Laffey and Ayanami and rushed off towards the dorms, pulling the two destroyers along with surprisingly little protest. Z23 shrugged and followed them.

I sighed. "Now who's-" I turned around… and got tackled.

"... again?" I groaned… or tried to. There were some, ahem, obstructions in my way.

"Pan paka paaaaaaaaaaan~! Don't worry Admiral, Atago is here for youuuu!" A far too cheerful and bubbly voice came from around the… fuel tanks pressed to my face.

"Oh my, what a cute Admiral! Please allow your big sisters, the Atagos, to take good care of you from now on!" Another voice, this one slightly more mature, came from behind the other set of fuel tanks I was trying (and failing) to breathe through.

"You can start by getting off me." I replied, which, thankfully, they acquiesced to. I stood up, muttering as I did so, and took a look.

On the left, stood a blonde, wearing a blue overcoat, showing off some legs encased in pantyhose, with a sailor cap parked on top of her head.

On the right, stood a raven-haired shipgirl, wearing what looks like a white dress uniform, minus that it cut off just where it needed to be to cover everything, with a katana sheathed at her hip. A pair of fluffy ears sat atop her head, perking up as I looked her over.

I will admit, both of them were rather… uh, well-equipped for their type. Weren't they heavy cruisers?

"Did Admiral not like our-"

"Stop. Please." I asked. The Atago on the left did so. I continued, "Alright, where are you two from?"

"I served honorably in the Imperial Japanese Navy!" The blond Atago replied.

"The Sakura Empire holds it's place in my heart as my homeland." The Atago on the right said.

"Thank you. Now, can you two please not do that again?" They nodded. "Thank you. Dorms are that way." I pointed off in the direction of the cruiser dorms.

"I do apologize for my sister." I heard a voice behind me as I watched the Atagos walk off, chatting away. I turned around.

Both were brunette, but I could tell by their attire which Atago the presumably Takao was related to. They looked remarkably similar in that regard.

"I see. Takao, I presume?"

"Indeed. How did you guess?" SE Takao (goddammit, I'm going to hate having to start doing that) sounded quite surprised. I shrugged.

"Educated guess. Follow your sisters, and you'll be at the dorms." They wandered off as well. I glanced back at Hood.

"Say, Hood." She came to attention. "Who were your main allies and enemies in World War 2?"

"The Eagle Union, once they were attacked by the Sakura Empire. We finished off the Iron Blood first, though."

"I see." So the only difference from that alternate timeline is the names of participating nations. "Thank you for that, Hood."

"Of course."

* * *

I lay back in my bed tonight, thinking hard about this.

We had a bunch of shipgirls that, apparently, were from an alternate timeline that had differing nations in name only, though that really only applied to the events of WW2. I had no idea if there was anything else different though.

What the hell was going on? Even during the Covenant War things had never been this what-the-fuck.

This assignment is beginning to disturb me more and more.

Anyways, I decided to ponder this while doing some paperwork. I walked out to get some coffee, then sat down, and began.

* * *

 ***checks calendar***

 ***checks last upload date***

 **Huh, I… actually updated in about a month. And just in time for the New Year. Good shit.**

 **Anyhow, I really hope I can keep this up. My main problem with writing these is that I get stuck on the little details here in the beginning. But well, I did this.**

 **Also, yes, I am starting to add in Azur Lane shipgirls, even those that were already in here. I'll have to make sure to clarify which one I'm writing if their personalities are too similar (or anyways, this a textual medium, not a visual one), but I'm also not forgetting Kancolle ships, both official and fanmade.**

 **Also, damn you Hiei (one of my Discord buddies) for getting me into World of Warships.**

 **Edit: On the subject of World of Warships, I updated the research ship list I have in here. More work for me, then.**


	18. Admiral's Log: Rotation Station

***wakes up***

 ***looks at desk covered in bottles of liquor***

… **..fuck.**

* * *

 **Thanks to rafanwolf, thundercharger123, flealoveshatinghislife, spray and be dead, mickelcarey44, paladin3030, and gleniv2 for flowwing/favoriting this glacier.**

 **The Review Box:**

 **freddie. wong. 1 (fucking FF formatting): *silently loads pistol*  
**

 **We do not speak that name here.**

* * *

"Hmm… So you're the Admiral, ja?"

"I am not." Hood's eye twitched. " _The Admiral_ is currently in her office doing who knows what and has not come out. For two days."

"I… see." Prinz Eugen, of the Iron Blood, white and red hair, gunmetal grey and blood red outfit, responded.

"Will the admiral come out soon?" Prinz Eugen, of the Kriegsmarine, blonde, also gunmetal grey and red outfit, asked.

"Either she will or I kick down that door myself _so help me God_." The battlecruiser ground out. In fact, she turned on her heel to do so, missing the third shipgirl disembarking the shuttle.

The self-appointed bodyguard strode up to the door to Aqua's office, mentally weighting if she should actually kick the door in.

Ultimately she decided against it, and just opened the door normally. Instantly she was hit by a wall of smell so strong she had to avert her face whilst gagging. When she turned back, she saw the source.

Scattered across the Admiral's desk was paperwork, cans of energy drink, and the Admiral herself. Upon closer inspection, the Admiral's coffee mug revealed that it had seen frequent use, and an empty case of energy drink (Hood turned her nose up once she read the nutritional facts- drinking the whole thing over the course of a day was practically a caffeine overdose) sat next to the desk, with a can of drink even upside down in the coffee mug. If that was coincidence or Aqua had tried to make her own monstrosity of caffeine, the battlecruiser couldn't tell.

As for Aqua, she was sawing logs, her head lying on the right side of her face. Her right arm was stretched out to the side, her pen having fallen from her grip to the floor. Her left arm was almost blocking her mouth from breathing, bent to where her hand was on another paper.

It looked like the Admiral had, quite literally, worked until she couldn't anymore.

"Okay… this needs to change." Hood decided. She thought for a moment, before glancing at the Admiral's computer to notice that it was still on.

When I woke up, I was lying in bed. This was… rather odd, since I last remembered leaving my office to get another coffee, then grabbing a case of Nitrous just in case. I wasn't in my office, obviously, and I had lost my admiral's uniform sometime between then and now.

"Ah, you're awake."

I glanced over to see Hood sitting on her bed, reading.

"So, do you know what day it is?" She asked, closing the book and setting it aside. I winced.

"Well… I'm assuming by your tone it's not January 17, is it?" I asked.

"No, it is not. It is January 20th." The British battlecruiser replied.

"So…"

"You fell asleep at your desk. And stayed asleep. For three days."

"I… right." I moved to get out of bed, but a gloved hand _clamping_ down on my arm dissuaded me from that.

"In fact, I have taken matters into my own hands." Hood's left eye was twitching. "I took the liberty of contacting your superiors. You _will_ be receiving a subordinate within a week. And you _will_ also have rotating secretaries. Ooyodo has done an excellent job, but she has agreed to take a lesser role in the name of your _health_."

"...my health is of no concern." I muttered. I learned that was the wrong thing to say when her grip _tightened_ , making my forearm creak.

"That is incorrect, _Admiral_. As your bodyguard, I would be remiss if I were to allow you to bring undue harm to yourself. And every shipgirl under your command would gladly die a thousand deaths before you suffer one. We can come back. You cannot."

"Fine." I sighed. I didn't need these girls fussing over me. I was a fucking United Nations Space Command Admiral, not a child!

—-

I learned from Hood that a number of lighter ships had come in while I was out. Several destroyers and light cruisers. Today, though, we were getting some carriers. That would be nice, I don't think Enterprise being alone in the American carrier dorm is a good thing.

The first carrier was a tiny girl, who looked more like a destroyer were it not for the carrier rigging on her back.

"I… am the…. Royal Navy's… Unicorn." She stuttered softly, hugging a plush unicorn to her tightly. The plush obscured her mouth to where it looked like the unicorn was speaking. "Admiral…. can I…. call you Big Sis?"

"...of course." I said. I was a little bewildered at the request, but it was hardly the worst or most demanding thing asked of me in the military. The little girl squeaked, slowly coming up to me and putting an arm around my legs, looking up at me in what I believe was slight fear in having done something wrong. I simply placed my head on her head, letting her nuzzle into it herself so she knew it was fine.

"Well, I see that Unicorn has made a friend." The sudden voice made me look up. And, _wow_ , damn.

"Greetings, Commander! Aircraft carrier Illustrious reporting in! I pray that you will bring love and peace to this… galaxy, was it? I hope you will be a good friend to Uni as well." A… well-armored woman in a tight white sundress said, bowing slightly. Illustrious- she said her name was that, right- replaced her (white) hat, on her (white) hair. Her thing must be white.

"I see. Welcome. You see yourself as Unicorn's caretaker?" I asked.

"I do." The carrier nodded, which did… interesting things to her chest.

"I see. Then you have no problem taking her to the Royal carrier dorms?" I rubbed Unicorn's head a final time, before she let go of me.

"Indeed." She took Unicorn's hand and led her in the direction I indicated. "May we meet again, Admiral, Lady Hood."

"Bye, big sis, Lady Hood." Unicorn waved shyly as they walked away.

"Interesting." A blonde in an overcoat… and not much else came up behind me. "Good with kids, are ya? I tried to cheer the little uni up on the way over, but she didn't really take to it."

"You could say that. USS…. Hornet, Yorktown class, if I recall?" I replied.

"Damn! How'd you know?" Hornet looked totally blindsided.

"You and Enterprise have the same coat." I remarked. "And she told me you were the 'fun' sister."

"Got that in one, she did. Enty was always the best judge of character. See ya later!" She ran off…

"Other way." I deadpanned. She turned on her heel and ran past me.

"Oh, that one." I glanced back. A white haired woman wearing a coat much like Enterprise and Hornet's, only correctly fastened, was walking towards me, a bald eagle that looked rather similar to Enterprise's perched atop her shoulder.

"Yorktown, I presume?" I said. She nodded.

"Indeed. I am the lead ship of Yorktown class aircraft carriers, Yorktown. My name comes from the Siege of Yorktown... You know? In the Revolutionary War. Neutrality...? That's just a pre-war courtesy."

"I see. As for neutrality, we haven't quite had that luxury." I replied.

"Right… Admiral, are you sure you won't leave me?" She asked.

"Only way I'm leaving is if I die, and that's not on my itinerary." I gave Yorktown a wan smile, which she took as affirmation and left.

"So. you're my Admiral? Very well. I am Graf Zeppelin. As all of the conditions appear to have been met, let the final movement begin." Another voice behind me, caused me to turn and see who it was.

A white haired woman (what is it with carriers and white hair?) in Iron Blood regalia watched me back, probably searching for signs of weakness. Carrier, carrier, Germany never had a carrier… but almost finished one.

"Ah, Graf Zeppelin. Excellent of you to join us." I replied firmly. "I'm afraid we did not prepare for your presence here. As such you will have to stay with the battleships of your nation rather than in the carrier dorms."

"Hmmm. As expected. But what use is it to fight and complain when I may save the effort?" The carrier stalked off, nihilism pouring off of her in waves.

I liked her already.

I was a bit… distracted by a presence behind me, two orbs of softness squishing into my back, a pair of arms around my waist, and nine fox tails attempting to encircle me.

"We finally meet, my Admiral." A voice stated from behind me. "However… there appear to be too many eyesores here. Please allow Akagi to 'clean up' a bit before we deepen our relationship. Hehehehe~!" Akagi's arm, which it had to be, since she referred to herself in the third person, raised from my waist to point at Hood, a wisp of fire forming on her finger. With reflexes gained from years on the field, my arms snapped up and I lugged her over me, the carrier landing with a loud CRASH on her back.

"IJN Akagi." I intoned, any and all emotion devoid from my voice. "As your superior officer, and ranking officer aboard this station, I will not allow you to deal any harm to any shipgirls under my command. Should I find that you have, then the punishment will be beyond your worst nightmares. This order is ironclad, and I will not allow any loopholes. Understood?"

"But- but ad-"

" _ **UNDERSTOOD.**_ " I snarled, letting genuine malice into my inflection to tell the carrier I wasn't fucking around. She quieted, nodding instead. "Excellent. The Sakura carrier dorms are that way." So saying, she stood up, shot Hood a dirty look, and strode off.

"That was troubling." The battlecruiser remarked.

"If I know that type, then I know she won't disobey me." I replied. "At least, not actively." I turned around, rightly anticipating another ship. A white kitsune- that's what fox girls are called in Japanese folklore, right?- stood before me.

"Hmmmm. Will I be able to find a worthy foe here? Very well. This Kaga is yours. Perhaps this too, is destiny." Kaga said, sounding very bored.

"Quite disappointed we aren't up to your standards." I deadpanned, rolling my eyes. Without any further direction, the kitsune followed her red and black colored sister (I presumed they were sisters anyways).

"Excellent. Now, let us get started on paperwork, shall we?" Hood asked. I merely nodded, staring after Kaga in contemplation.

I found out that Hood had moved a new desk into my office. This was apparently to be the secretary's desk. As for the desk outside the door, that was still Ooyodo's desk, ostensibly making her a screen for any visitors. Of course, working in the same room as my secretary was still quite a bit off-putting compared to working alone.

"Pass me that commission report."

Though not entirely without merit. Hood herself was acting as my first secretary, and quite efficient when it came to paperwork.

"I take it you have some experience when it comes to this kind of job." I commented as I denied a request from Akashi (the cat one) for making the sole acceptable currency in the shop she was setting up diamonds (which only she knew how to obtain).

Hood heaved a sigh. "Indeed, much of running the Royal Navy fell to either me, or my King George V sisters. The queen, while an excellent leader on the battlefield, is still somewhat… immature, when it comes to the matters of leadership outside combat."

I grunted. That type was better suited to frontline command, not a desk job. Ironically, it felt the same as me getting a desk job now, after all the Covenant mess. Guess leadership being dumb is universal.

 **So, uh, hi. I'm still alive.**

 **No, I haven't had to deal with the beer virus. Arguably the most annoying things this has caused for me is people doing dumb shit on the server. That, plus I've been running preventative interference on someone who lives in the same city as me who isn't in the best place mentally. It's a living.**

 **On the topic of this chapter, it's been sitting… probably 95% complete for a month now. My main problem is that it's just not as easy to write this thing as it used to be. That plus I get other plot bunnies that I find easier to work on than this. Plus my usual habits of video games and screwing around on Discord get in the way.**

 **So, no promises on speedy updates, but promise on not giving up on this fucker yet.**


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